Gangnam Style

"Gangnam Style"
Song

"Gangnam Style" (Korean: 강남스타일, IPA: [kaŋnam sɯtʰail]) is a K-pop single by the South Korean music artist PSY. The song was released on July 15, 2012, as the lead single of his sixth studio album PSY 6 (Six Rules), Part 1. "Gangnam Style" debuted at number one on the Gaon Chart, the national record chart of South Korea. As of November 26, 2012, the music video has been viewed over 830 million times on YouTube, and is the site's most watched video after surpassing Justin Bieber's single "Baby".

The phrase "Gangnam Style" is a Korean neologism that refers to a lifestyle associated with the Gangnam District of Seoul. The song and its accompanying music video went viral in August 2012 and have influenced popular culture since then. "Gangnam Style" was almost universally praised for its catchy beat and PSY's amusing dance moves in the music video and during live performances in various locations such as Madison Square Garden, The Today Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and Samsung commercials. On September 20, 2012, "Gangnam Style" was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most "liked" video in YouTube history. It subsequently won Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards held later that year.

It became a source of parodies and reaction videos by many different groups, organizations, and individuals, including The Oregon Duck, midshipmen from the United States Naval Academy, and the North Korean government. By the end of October 2012, the song reached the number one position in more than 30 countries including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Although the song's reception in Japan remained lukewarm, the song topped China's Baidu 500 download list and was labelled by state-controlled media as having a "divine melody."

As the song continued to rapidly gain popularity and ubiquity, its signature dance moves were performed by many business and political leaders including Google's executive chairman Eric Schmidt, the British Prime Minister David Cameron, and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who hailed the song as a "force for world peace". The song's influence on political activism was exemplified by the film Gangnam for Freedom. It was produced by the British sculptor Anish Kapoor to advocate the freedom of expression and had subsequently won the support of various human rights organisations including Index on Censorship and Amnesty International. According to the United Nations, PSY has become an "international sensation" through his song "Gangnam Style".

Background and release

"Gangnam Style" is a Korean neologism that refers to a lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district of Seoul, where people are trendy, hip and exude a certain supposed "class". The term was listed in Time's weekly vocabulary list as a manner associated with lavish lifestyles in Seoul's Gangnam district. Psy likened the Gangnam District to Beverly Hills, California, and said in an interview that he intended in a twisted sense of humor by claiming himself to be "Gangnam Style" when everything about the song, dance, looks, and the music video is far from being such a high class.

People who are actually from Gangnam never proclaim that they are—it's only the posers and wannabes that put on these airs and say that they are "Gangnam Style"—so this song is actually poking fun at those kinds of people who are trying so hard to be something that they're not.

— Psy

The song talks about "the perfect girlfriend who knows when to be refined and when to get wild." The song's refrain "오빤 강남 스타일 (Oppan Gangnam style)" has been translated as "Big brother is Gangnam style", with Psy referring to himself; "Oppa" is a Korean expression used by females to refer to an older male friend or older brother. During an interview with The New York Times, Psy revealed that the Korean fans have huge expectations about his dancing, so he felt a lot of pressure. In order to keep up with expectations, he studied hard to find something new and stayed up late for about 30 nights to come up with the "Gangnam Style" dance. Along the way, he had tested various "cheesy" animal-inspired dance moves with his choreographer, including panda and kangaroo moves, before settling for the horse trot, which involves pretending to ride a horse, alternately holding the reins and spinning a lasso, and moving into a legs-shuffling side gallop.

During an interview with Reuters, Psy claimed that "Gangnam Style" was originally produced only for local K-pop fans, and he later said the same thing during a speech at Oxford University. On July 11, PSY and his music label YG Entertainment started releasing several promotional teasers for "Gangnam Style" to their subscribers on YouTube. On July 15, 2012, the full music video of "Gangnam Style" was uploaded onto YouTube and received about 500,000 views on its first day. However, in Germany, an ongoing dispute between YouTube and the GEMA (the country's performance rights organization) regarding copyright issues has led to thousands of music videos including "Gangnam Style" being blocked in the country.

K-pop and the Korean Wave

Main articles: K-pop and Korean Wave

According to the news agency Agence France-Presse, the success of "Gangnam Style" could be considered as part of the Korean Wave, a term coined by Chinese journalists to refer to the significant increase in the popularity of South Korean entertainment and culture since the late 1990s.

Korean popular music (K-pop), considered by some to be the most important aspect of the Korean Wave, is a music genre that relies on cultural technology to adapt to the tastes of foreign audiences and has now grown into a popular subculture among teenagers and young adults in many places around the world. Although it has spread to the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and parts of South America, its reception in the Western world has so far been lukewarm. However, social media networks such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter have made it easier for K-pop musicians to reach a wider audience in the West. According to Mark James Russell from Foreign Policy, while the Korean wave "may not (yet) turn heads in Los Angeles or London", this could soon change because of the Gangnam Style phenomenon.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com
Common Sense Media
Digital Spy

The song has received mixed to positive ratings from music critics. Music journalist Bill Lamb from About.com praised the song for "spreading smiles and pure fun around the world in record time". He then writes, "take one part LMFAO's synth-based party music, another part Ricky Martin's Latin dance party and the rest a powerfully charismatic South Korean showman and you have the first worldwide K-Pop smash hit", while Ian Garland of the Daily Mail called "Gangnam Style" a "bizarre music sensation".

Jeff Benjamin from Billboard became one of the first music critics to review the song when he published an article and reported that "Gangnam Style" has gone viral on the Internet. In his article, Benjamin introduced the reader to a couple of popular K-pop songs and wrote that "Gangnam Style" in particular, plays all the right moves sonically while "borrowing from LMFAO along the way".

The next day, Hallie Sekoff of The Huffington Post quoted from the video's official YouTube video description that the song is characterized by its "strongly addictive beats", and wrote that this is not too far-fetched, considering "how obsessed we've found ourselves."

Despite its popularity, a few music critics including Robert Copsey from Digital Spy criticized the song for being monotonous. Cospey wrote that "you could slap an LMFAO tag on the cover and few would know the difference" and Paul Lester of The Guardian similarly labelled it as "generic ravey Euro dance with guitars". Lester described the song as "Pump up the Jam meets the Macarena with a dash of Cotton Eye Joe" while Robert Myers of The Village Voice dismissed "Gangnam Style" as an "inspired piece of silliness".

South Korea and Japan

Dancers performing "Gangnam Style" at the Gimje Horizon Festival.

Cha Woo-jin, a South Korean music critic, told The Chosun Ilbo that "Gangnam Style"'s sophisticated rendering and arrangement has made it very appealing to the general public. Choe Kwang-shik, the South Korean Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, told reporters that "Gangnam Style" had played an important role in introducing the Korean culture, language, and lifestyle to the rest of the world. However, some have criticized the song for failing to accurately represent South Korean culture. Oh Young-Jin, managing editor of The Korea Times, wrote that the dance has more to do with Americans than Koreans.

In Japan, the song has met with considerable criticism. When "Gangnam Style" first appeared in Japanese TV shows in July, the reaction from viewers was negative. As a result, Psy's Japanese record label YGEX cancelled a previously planned Japanese version of "Gangnam Style". According to The Dong-a Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, the song's lukewarm reception in Japan could have been caused by a diplomatic conflict between the two countries and the newspaper accused the Japanese media of keeping its people "in the dark". However, Jun Takaku of the Japanese daily newspaper Asahi Shimbun explained that "Gangnam Style" had caused "barely a ripple in Japan" because PSY does not conform to the image of other "traditionally polished" K-pop acts popular in Japan such as Girls' Generation and TVXQ. Erica Ho from Time magazine similarly noted that despite the K-pop musical genre being very popular in Japan, the country seemed to be "immune to PSY Mania" and she advised her readers who dislike the song to "pack your bags for Japan".

Immediately after its release, "Gangnam Style" was mentioned by various English-language websites providing coverage of Korean pop culture for international fans, including Allkpop and Soompi. Simon and Martina Stawski, a Canadian couple living in Seoul who were among the first to parody "Gangnam Style" in late July, wrote that the song has the potential to become "one of the biggest songs of the year". However, during an interview with Al Jazeera a few weeks later, Martina Stawski claimed that the worldwide popularity of "Gangnam Style" has been viewed negatively by some K-pop fans, because "they [the fans] didn't want K-pop being liked by other people who don't understand K-Pop". This view is also supported by the British journalist and K-pop fan Promi Ferdousi, who wrote that the song has managed to "find its way into our clubs" while the best K-pop songs are limited to niche groups on social-media websites.

Commercial performance

The song debuted at number six on the Billboard Korea K-Pop Hot 100 for the week of July 28, 2012. It then topped the chart the week after, and remained at number one for five weeks. On the Gaon Single Chart, the song was downloaded 816,000 times in its first week, and was number one for five weeks. As of 22 September 2012, the song was downloaded over 2.8 million times in South Korea.

In the United States, "Gangnam Style" debuted at number 74 on Billboard Hot Digital Songs with 23,000 downloads sold in the week ending of September 8, 2012, and two weeks later reached number 25 with 61,000 downloads; previously, 57,000 copies were downloaded in the US up until August 31. The song rocketed to number four for the chart week of September 29, with 188,000 downloads. On the issue date of September 22, it debuted at number 64 on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming the second K-pop song to enter the chart behind the Wonder Girls' "Nobody" in 2009. In the same week, "Gangnam Style" also debuted on the Billboard Pop Songs at number 28. "Gangnam Style" had, by October 11, sold one million downloads in the US. In its second week on the Hot 100, "Gangnam Style" rose to number 11. In its third week on the chart, "Gangnam Style" rose to number two, behind "One More Night" by Maroon 5. On week November 24, 2012, after seven weeks at #2 the song dropped to number 5. On week December 1, 2012, the song dropped to number 7.

On September 1, 2012, "Gangnam Style" debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number 196; in its second week, the song reached number 61. The next week, the song rose up to number 37. On September 19, 2012, Greg James announced that the song had climbed 21 places to number 16. On September 21, 2012, the song had climbed from 16 to 6. The song was 22,000 copies behind "Hall of Fame" by The Script with sales of "Gangnam Style" accelerating by an average of 20% each day that week. The song eventually reached number three in its third week on the chart. The next midweek Official Chart Update, released on September 26, indicated that "Gangnam Style" was on pace to become number one on the next official chart, set for release on September 30. The song, as projected, reached the top spot on the official September 30 chart, making it the first K-pop single to do so.

On August 21, 2012, "Gangnam Style" charted number one on the iTunes Music Video Charts, overtaking Justin Bieber's "As Long as You Love Me" and Katy Perry's "Wide Awake"; this feat is the first for any South Korean artist. Since early September, the song has also peaked on Billboard's YouTube Music Chart at number one.

Music video

Synopsis

PSY and Noh Hongchul in the elevator scene in the music video of "Gangnam Style".

Psy is seen lounging at what looks like a sandy beach, under a sun umbrella and holding a cold drink, but the camera zooms out to reveal he is actually at a playground. The video alternates between the playground, where a boy (Hwang Min-Woo) dances next to him, and a row of horses in stalls, where Psy performs his signature "invisible horse dance". As Psy (and two girls) walk through a parking garage, they are pelted by pieces of newspaper, trash, and snow. At a sauna, he rests his head on a man's shoulder, while another man covered in tattoos is stretching. He sings in front of two men playing chess, dances with a woman at a tennis court, and bounces around on a tour bus of seniors. The scenes alternate quickly until there is an explosion at the chess players. Psy walks towards the camera, shouting "Oppan Gangnam style". He and some dancers perform at a horse stable. He dances as two women walk backwards. He dances at the tennis court, a carousel, and the tour bus. He shuffles into an outdoor yoga session. He dances on a boat. The camera zooms on a woman's butt, then shows Psy "yelling" at it.

At a parking lot, Psy is approached by a man (Yoo Jae-Suk) with a red Mercedes-Benz SLK-Class and a yellow suit; they have a dance duel. He then appears in an elevator underneath a man (Noh Hongchul) who is straddling him and thrusting his pelvis. The man in the yellow suit gets in his car and leaves. In a subway cabin, he notices an attractive young woman (Hyuna) dancing. At one of the train stops, he approaches the girl in slow motion, and she does the same. They start to embrace. He then tells the girl "Oppan Gangnam style", and they horse dance along with some others at the train stop. He also surfaces from a spa.

Psy sings to the girl at a night club as people in all sorts of costumes walk behind them. He raps "seriously" in an enclosed space, but when the camera zooms out, he is actually sitting on a toilet with his pants down. Psy and a large group of dancers do the horse dance and strike a final pose. After some additional footage of the dance duel, Psy says, "Oppan Gangnam style", and the video finishes with a cartoon graphic.

Production

File:Gangnam1.jpg

A view of Gangnam Station intersection

The music video shows PSY performing a comical horse-riding dance and appearing in unexpected locations around the Gangnam District, such as an outdoor yoga session and a hot tub. He wears several distinctive suits and black sunglasses with a mindset of "dress classy and dance cheesy". It features a "skewering [of] the Gangnam image" by the "non-Gangnam PSY"; this parody would be recognizable to viewers familiar with Korean culture. Although there are more than ten different locations featured, only two of the scenes are actually filmed in the Gangnam district. The sauna scene, elevator scene and bathroom scene were filmed elsewhere in the greater Seoul region, and some shots were filmed in World Trade Center Seoul and the Songdo International Business District, which includes Songdo Central Park and International Business District Station. The video was shot over 48 hours in July 2012.

In K-pop, it is routine to have cameos by celebrities in a music video, such as in the dance scenes in the elevator and the parking garage. Making appearances in the music video are:

• 4minute member Hyuna playing PSY's love interest and appearing in the two final dance sequences.
• Big Bang members Daesung and Seungri appear in the video as two old men playing a board game in the park; they are the two men flying in the background after the explosion.
• Hwang Min-Woo, a 7-year-old boy who is seen dancing at the beginning of the video. During an interview with CNN, PSY stated that "the night before the music video shoot, I was watching Korea's Got Talent and saw him dance to Michael Jackson. His moves were ridiculous. So we called him up and asked him to be in the music video, which was shooting the very next day, and he came and it all worked out." He has been praised for his eye-catching dance moves that have received a lot of attention from viewers.
• Comedian/television personality, Korea's Nation emcee Yoo Jae-Suk, in a dance duel with PSY.
• Comedian/television personality, Noh Hongchul, dancing in an elevator with his trademark pelvis-thrusting, with PSY rapping underneath him.

The music was composed by PSY and Yoo Gun Hyung, a producer in South Korea who has also collaborated with PSY in the past. Yoo also arranged the song while PSY was responsible for the lyrics. According to The Guardian, PSY has waived his copyright to the music video. Although this has not been officially confirmed, Arwa Mahdawi of The Guardian reported it was likely that PSY had simply refrained from taking legal action against parodies of his video. "Gangnam Style" is therefore a video that is "born to spawn".

Viral spread

Following its July 15 release, "Gangnam Style" overtook Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" to reach the number one position on the YouTube Top 100 Music Videos during the week of August 28, 2012. On September 1, it overtook Girls' Generation's "Gee" to become the most viewed K-pop video on YouTube. Although "Call Me Maybe" has had unusually strong staying power, averaging over 1.5 million views each day, "Gangnam Style" increased to an average of over 9 million views per day within just 2 months. This is mainly because "Call Me Maybe" remained largely a North American trend, whereas the popularity of "Gangnam Style" is not confined to the United States. 61.6 percent of viewers were male, and those aged between 13 and 17 represented the biggest group.

According to The Wall Street Journal, T-Pain was among the first to have "sent [the video] to the stratosphere" when he tweeted about it on July 29. It was then picked up by Neetzan Zimmerman from the social blog Gawker, who asked "Did this underground Hip Hop artist from South Korea just release the Best Music Video of the Year?" on July 30. This was soon followed by Robbie Williams, Britney Spears, Katy Perry, Tom Cruise, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, William Gibson, and the United Nations, who have either commented about or shared the video with their fans via Twitter.

The earliest video that caught the attention of media networks outside South Korea is "PSY Gangnam Style MV Reaction", which was uploaded by Katie and Mindy Anderson on July 18, 2012. The Andersons were subsequently interviewed by Evan Ramstad from The Wall Street Journal a few weeks later. In his article published on August 6, 2012, Ramstad also included "Kpop Music Mondays : Psy Gangnam Style", a review and parody of "Gangnam Style" uploaded on July 23 by K-Pop video bloggers Simon and Martina Stawski, a Canadian couple living in Seoul. This makes the Stawski's video the earliest parody featured in an American newspaper. On August 8, 2012, Ramstad appeared on WSJ Live, and he mentioned the Andersons and the Stawskis again, before claiming that "a lot of Koreans are also making their own parodies of 'Gangnam Style'".

On September 3, 2012, the number of views generated by "Gangnam Style" went past the five-million mark. By the end of September, it had topped the iTunes charts in 31 countries. The Dong-a Ilbo, a South Korean newspaper, quoted the following statement released by YouTube, "From July 15, when the music video was uploaded on the site, to September 28, the video was accessed by people in 222 countries, more than the 193 member countries of the U.N."

1 Earliest notable reaction video by K-pop fans Katie and Mindy Anderson, uploaded to YouTube on July 18, 2012
2 Earliest notable parody by K-pop bloggers Simon and Martina Stawski, uploaded on July 23
3a Shared on the social news website Reddit, July 28
3b Earliest celebrity comment by Robbie Williams on his personal blog, July 28
3c Featured in the foreign tabloid newspaper Ilta-Sanomat, in Finland, July 28
4 First celebrity tweet by T-Pain, July 29
5 Picked up by Neetzan Zimmerman from the social blog Gawker, July 30
6 Picked up by the British political commentator Andrew Sullivan, who blogs about the video on The Daily Beast, August 1
7 Featured in CNN International and The Wall Street Journal, August 3
8 Nelly Furtado performs "Gangnam Style" at her concert in the Philippines, August 16
9 Psy performs "Gangnam Style" at Dodger Stadium, August 20. This marks his first public appearance in the United States
10 Katy Perry shares the "Gangnam Style" music video with her 25 million followers on Twitter, August 21
11 Psy appears on VH1 with Carrie Keagan and Jason Dundas, August 22. This marks his first appearance in a US television show

Reviews

The music video of "Gangnam Style" has been met with positive responses from the music industry and commentators, who drew attention to its tone and dance moves, with some finding it vulgar. Another notable aspect that helped popularised the video was its comical dance moves that can be easily copied, such as the pelvic thrust during the elevator scene. The United Nations hailed PSY as an "international sensation" because of his "satirical" video clip and its "horse-riding-like dance moves". As such, the music video has spawned a dance craze unseen since the Macarena of of the mid 1990s.

Melissa Locker of Time noted that "it's hard not to watch again …and again …and again", while CNN reporter Shanon Cook told the audience that she had watched "Gangnam Style" about 15 times. The German news magazine Der Spiegel attributed the popularity of "Gangnam Style" to its daring dance moves, a sentiment similarly voiced by Maura Judkis of The Washington Post, who wrote, "'Gangnam Style' has made an extraordinarily stupid-looking dance move suddenly cool". The video was also positively reviewed by Steve Knopper from Rolling Stone, who called "Gangnam Style" an astoundingly great K-pop video that has all the best elements of hypnotically weird one-hit wonders and hopes that "Psy gets filthy rich from this".

Mesfin Fekadu of the Associated Press wrote that Psy's dance moves are "somewhat bizarre" but the music video is full of colorful, lively outfits. Matt Buchanan and Scott Ellis of The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that the video "makes no sense at all to most Western eyes" and it "makes you wonder if you have accidentally taken someone else's medication" whereas Deborah Netburn of the Los Angeles Times called it "one of the greatest videos ever to be uploaded to YouTube." Kim Alessi from Common Sense Media considered the music video for "Gangnam Style" worth seeing for its caricature of contemporary Asian and American urban lifestyles, but also warned that "Gangnam Style" contains sexually suggestive images and "degrading messages" which could be inappropriate for children and teenagers.

Asia

Asia

Country	Reporter/Journalist Source	Reception
China	People's Daily	韩国歌手Psy的"神曲"《江南style》... [ 《Gangnam Style》, a "divine melody" by Korean singer Psy... ]
India	Shonali Muthalaly The Hindu	He's (Psy's) willing to laugh at the world, and himself. And this sharp subversive humour is what elevates the song from catchy to memorable.
Israel	Lahav Harkov The Jerusalem Post	Gangnam Style – the Korean pop hit that took the world by storm. Israeli artist Agent K made his own version, "Jewish Style", which borders on offensive with its extensive use of stereotypes
Pakistan	Ahmer Ashraf The Express Tribune	It may appear dumb, stupid and a parody but it is catchy with an underlying message. So love it or hate it, you can’t miss it.
Saudi Arabia	Mohammed AlSaif Arab News	...the video is titled “Saudi Gangnam Style,” and I was surprised that this video had been viewed more than 4 million times in just six days. This was truly a remarkable piece of work to get so much attention from a group of young amateurs. Korean pop singer PSY produced the original music video.

Europe

Europe

Country	Reporter/Journalist Source	Reception
Belgium	Gunter Van Assche De Morgen	Het onzichtbare paard in het dwaze dansje zou een metafoor zijn voor de bezits-drang van de mens [ The invisible horse in this silly dance is like a metaphor that represents man's desire to be rich ]
Finland	Ilta-Sanomat	Unohtakaa Macarena, tässä tulee hevostanssi! [ Forget about "Macarena", here comes the horse dance! ]
France	Stéphane Lagarde Radio France Internationale	"Gangnam Style", la très addictive danse du cheval [ "Gangnam Style", the highly addictive horse dance ]
Germany	Jan Augustiny Stern	Er (Psy) sieht aus wie Kim Jong-Il... [He (Psy) looks like Kim Jong-Il.]
Norway	Lina Hekkli, Se og Hør	Nå har selvsagt også «Skal vi danse»-deltagerne kastet seg på trenden, og fredag publiserte Linni Meister og hennes dansepartner Calle Sterner en video på «Skal vi danse»-bloggen sin der de prøver seg «Gangnam Style». [ Participants of Skal vi danse (Dance competition) joined in the trend, and on Friday, Linni Meister and her dance companion Calle Sterner uploaded a video where they danced to «Gangnam Style». ]
Poland	TVN24	Zobacz jak "Gangnam Style" tańczyło całe "Dzień Dobry TVN"­ [ Look how our crew at Dzień Dobry TVN (TV Programme) danced to "Gangnam Style" ]
Russia	Boris Barabanov Kommersant	За этот короткий срок Сай успел стать не только рекордсменом, но и любимцем всей музыкальной индустрии [ In this short amount of time, Psy has not only become a record-holder, but also a darling of the entire music industry ]
Sweden	Hanna Fahl Dagens Nyheter	En världshit med välproducerat dansgolvsbeat och oemotståndligt klistrig refräng – på koreanska [A worldwide hit with a well-produced dance floor beat and an irresistable, inescapable refrain – in Korean]
Switzerland	Dominique Marcel Iten, DRS 3	Zurzeit begeistert aber ausgerechnet ein verrückter Südkoreaner unter dem Pseudonym PSY die ganze Welt [ Right now, the entire world is fascinated by a mad South Korean with the pseudonym PSY ]
United Kingdom	Justin McCurry The Guardian	His quirky dance steps and unforgettable sing-a-long chorus have given us the smash pop hit of the year'

Latin America

Latin America

Country	Reporter/Journalist Source	Reception
Brazil	Marcela Puccia Braz Viajeaqui	a música é uma paródia crítica a essa cultura, à medida que Psy mistura elementos cafonas a símbolos da elite sul-coreana [The song is a parody in which Psy mixes elements and symbols of the elitist South Korean culture to criticize it]
Chile	La Nación	...coreografía conocida como el Gangnam Style. La actividad se enmarca dentro de las masivas manifestaciones estudiantiles con que los jóvenes se hacen notar en el país. Las locaciones escogidas fueron el frontis de La Moneda, la Plaza de Armas, el Ministerio de Educación, el Metro y la Casa Central de la Universidad de Chile, entre otras. [...as part of the massive protests all across the country, a group of students danced to the choreography of Gangnam Style at La Moneda, Plaza de Armas, Ministerio de Educación, and the University of Chile ]
Guatemala	Prensa Libre	...la clásica historia de “chico busca chica” adaptada al acomodado barrio de Gangnam [ ...the classical tale of "boy looking for a girl" adapted to the affluent district of Gangnam ]
Peru	El Comercio	Banda Qallari le añade al éxito de la pegajosa canción del coreano PSY instrumentación con base de zampoña y charango. [...] La letra en quechua del “Gangnam Style”, a diferencia de la original que se centra en una chica del acomodado barrio de Gangnam-gu, habla de un caballo que está a punto de ser asesinado. [Banda Qallari adds to the success of Korean PSY's catchy song with instrumentation using zampoña and charango as a base. [...] The Quechua lyrics of "Gangman Style" differ from the original, which centers on a girl in the high-end district of Gangman-gu, in that it tells of a horse who will soon be killed ]

Achievements

The song and its accompanying music video have attained the following achievements:

• Most viewed K-pop video on YouTube – On September 1, 2012, it overtook "Gee" by the 9-member K-pop idol-group Girls' Generation with 89 million views.
• Most liked video in YouTube history – On September 13, 2012, it overtook "Party Rock Anthem" by the American electro recording duo LMFAO upon receiving 1.57 million "likes", and subsequently won its first Guinness World Record one week later. By November, it had more than 4 million likes.
• First K-pop song to top the UK Singles Chart – On September 30, 2012, it replaced Hall of Fame by the Irish alternative rock band The Script with a margin of 26,000 extra copies sold
• Most viewed video on YouTube – On November 24, 2012, it overtook "Baby" by the Canadian singer-songwriter Justin Bieber after receiving more than 803 million views.

Year	Host country	City	Ceremony	Award	Result	Ref
2012	Germany	Frankfurt	MTV Europe Music Awards	Best Video	Won
	United States	Los Angeles	American Music Awards	New Media Honoree	Won
	China	Hong Kong	Mnet Asian Music Awards	Best Video	Pending
				Song of the Year	Pending
2013	United States	Los Angeles	People's Choice Awards	Favorite Music Video	Pending
	France	Cannes	NRJ Music Awards	Chanson Internationale de l'année (International Song of the Year)	Pending
				Clip de l'année (Music Video of the Year)	Pending

Live performances

Following the release of "Gangnam Style", PSY made several performances on television and at concerts in Korea. Among the first of such performances include his appearance on the weekly South Korean music program, The Music Trend. PSY also performed at several concerts prior to his departure to the US, including during "The Heumbbeok Show" and the Summer Stand Concert in Seoul.

On August 20, PSY posted on Twitter "Bringing #GANGNAM STYLE to the Dodgers–Giants game this evening". Dodger Stadium presented a segment called "PSY Dance Cam" where they showed clips of the music video, followed by live shots of baseball fans dancing, and then Psy, who waves and does the dance. Two days later, PSY appeared on VH1's Big Morning Buzz Live show, and taught television hosts Carrie Keagan and Jason Dundas how to dance "Gangnam Style".

On September 6, PSY appeared at the 2012 MTV Video Music Awards performing his "Gangnam Style" dance alongside comedian Kevin Hart. After the event, He would make several more appearances on US TV programs. On September 10, he appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in Burbank, California, introducing himself as "PSY from Korea", before teaching Britney Spears the dance. He described the dance as "pretending to bounce like riding on an invisible horse" and when Ellen told Britney she would have to remove her high-heeled shoes to perform the dance PSY protested that no, the point was, 'to dress classy, and dance cheesy.' On September 14, he appeared on NBC's morning program Today in New York City for its Toyota Concert Series, where he performed the song and also taught the anchors the dance. The September 15 season premiere episode of Saturday Night Live featured a sketch based on the song and its video. Bobby Moynihan portrayed PSY, but was joined mid-sketch by Psy himself. He also made his second appearance on The Ellen Show's September 19 episode to perform the song alongwith his backup dancers.

On September 22, PSY made an appearance at the iHeartRadio Music Festival to perform "Gangnam Style"; he would return to South Korea. From September 25 to October 15 in Korea, the song was performed as one of the set lists by him on various occasions including university campus festivals and CY X PSY, Let's Play with PSY concert. On October 4, PSY performed "Gangnam Style" during a free concert that he held outside the Seoul City Hall. More than 80,000 fans attended the event, leading to the closure of a part of the city center and an increase in subway operations. While Psy was in the US, it was announced that he, as ambassador of the Formula One Korean Grand Prix, would perform "Gangnam Style" at the event during the 2012 edition. At the event PSY taught Formula One drivers Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel how do perform the dance. On October 16, PSY travelled to Sydney, Australia, to perform "Gangnam Style" that night on The X Factor, a reality TV music competition; he would be joined by Melanie Brown to perform the "horse dance" on stage. The following day, he performed on breakfast TV show Sunrise in Martin Place, Sydney. He who dressed in a black jacket, blue pants, two-tone shoes and his signature shades, appeared on the US national TV show The View on October 25 and performed the song for Barbara Walters and the ladies of the show who donned sunglasses and got out of their seats.

At the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards held on November 11, PSY delivered a performance of the song, featuring a David Hasselhoff appearance and backup dancing of Psy look-alikes. On November 13, He joined the American singer-songwriter Madonna on stage during her concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City and they performed a mashup of the song and her 2008 hit "Give It 2 Me". PSY later told reporters that his gig with Madonna had "topped his list of accomplishments". On November 18, PSY, who rocked out in traditional Hammer pants, closed out the 40th American Music Awards show with a performance of "Gangnam Style," joined by surprise guest MC Hammer who brought in his own moves and Psy's horse-riding dance as the song mashed into his 1990s hit "2 Legit 2 Quit". Jason Lipshutz of Billboard commented that "PSY's feverish rendition of 'Gangnam Style' accomplished what so few award show performances can: a palpable sense of excitement. The combination of the K-pop star and MC Hammer [...] was a stroke of genius that very few could have seen coming", choosing it as the best performance of the night. The Tonight Show with Jay Leno did a special Thanksgiving broadcast with an all-military audience on November 22, and PSY dropped by as the musical guest. The singer sang the song and danced alongside the soldiers, going into the crowd for part of his performance.

Cultural impact

Main articles: Gangnam Style phenomenon and Gangnam Style in popular culture

Students re-enacting the elevator scene at the University of Bradford's atrium in West Yorkshire, England.

After the release of "Gangnam Style", the American talent manager Scooter Braun, who discovered Justin Bieber on YouTube, asked on Twitter "How did I not sign this guy (Psy)". Soon afterwards, it was reported that PSY had left for Los Angeles to meet with representatives of Justin Bieber, to explore collaboration opportunities. On September 3, Braun made a public announcement that was later uploaded onto YouTube, saying that he and PSY have decided to "make some history together. [To] be the first Korean artist to break a big record in the United States." On September 4, it was confirmed that PSY was signed to Braun's Schoolboy Records.

The music video for the song has gone viral and is an Internet meme. Although PSY attributed the song's popularity to YouTube and his fans while at the same time insisted that he is not responsible for the song's success, the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized the singer for "increasing the world's interest in Korea" and announced its decision to award PSY with a 4th Class Order of Cultural Merit.

Social

As the song's popularity continued to rise, it caused the share price of the song's music label YG Entertainment to gain as much as 50%. DI Corporation, whose executive Chairman Park Won-Ho is PSY's father, saw its share price increase by 568.8% within a few months of the song's release despite making a year-over-year loss. Soon, "Gangnam Style" began to attract the attention of several business and political leaders, including UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon who recognized the song as a "force for world peace". During his meeting with PSY at the United Nations Headquarters, he commented, "We have tough negotiations in the United Nations. In such a case I was also thinking of playing Gangnam Style-dance so that everybody would stop and dance. Maybe you can bring UN style."

A resident of a shelter for disabled persons dancing "Gangnam Style" during a U.S. Navy community service visit in Geojedo, South Korea.

Through social networks like Facebook, many small, unofficial fan-organized flash mobs have been held in universities and colleges throughout the world. The earliest flash mobs were held in Pasadena, California, and Sydney, Australia. On September 12, Times Square in Manhattan was filled with a flash mob dancing to the music of "Gangnam Style" during ABC's Good Morning America. Major flash mobs (those with more than 1,000 participants) were also held in Seoul (South Korea), South Sulawesi (Indonesia), Sicily and Milan (Italy), and Paris (France).

Top 5 "Gangnam Style" flash mobs with most participants

Date	Location	Country	Participants
October 6, 2012	Seoul	South Korea	15,000
October 14, 2012	Makassar, South Sulawesi	Indonesia	12,000
October 21, 2012	Piazza del Duomo, Milan	Italy	20,000
November 5, 2012	Jardins du Trocadéro, Paris	France	20,000
November 10, 2012	Piazza del Popolo, Rome	Italy	15,000

The song has been tweeted by the United Nations, the United Nations Children's Fund, mentioned by a reporter during a U.S. State Department briefing and referenced by the President of the International Criminal Court Song Sang-Hyun during his speech in front of the UN Security Council. On October 9, the Mayor of London Boris Johnson held a speech at the 2012 Conservative Party Conference where he told the audience that he and the British Prime Minister David Cameron have danced "Gangnam Style". A few days before the conference, they had performed the dance at Chequers Court in Buckinghamshire. During a Google Earnings call, Larry Page, the CEO and co-founder of Google, hailed the song as a glimpse of the future of worldwide distribution through YouTube.

The American Council on Exercise estimated that dancing "Gangnam Style" will burn 150–200 calories per half hour and the song was used by Northampton General Hospital to promote hand washing as part of the 2012 Global Handwashing Day on October 15. Swype, an input method for Android operating systems, included "Gangnam Style" in its list of recognized words and phrases. The French-born political commentator Tim Soutphommasane, a Research fellow at Monash University, wrote that the Gangnam Style phenomenon is worth studying. According to Soutphommasane, the world is only beginning to appreciate Gangnam Style as "part of a broader hallyu cultural wave coming out of the country [South Korea]".

The Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek brought up "Gangnam Style" as an example of a "pure ideological phenomenon" that has influenced numerous notable people including U.S. President Barack Obama who revealed about possible plans to privately perform "Gangnam Style" for his spouse Michelle Obama.

Popular culture

...it has taken over the world,
it has taken over the intrawebs,
and now it's time for it
to take over Times Square.

—ABC News during a "Gangnam Style" flash
mob in Manhattan, September 12, 2012.

Since September 2012, the dance has been performed by athletes in international competitions. These people include Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao, Uruguayan footballer Edinson Cavani, tennis player Novak Djokovic, and Jamaican cricketer Chris Gayle, who danced "Gangnam Style" twice during the West Indies' match against Ireland and then repeated the act during the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 match against England.

District3 and Rylan Clark, finalists of the British music competition The X Factor, lip-synced and danced to "Gangnam Style" in a promotion. On September 27, Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google was reported to have danced "Gangnam Style" when he visited the company's office in Seoul. Nick Carbone from Time described it as cringe-worthy because "It's the same reason why you'd never want to see your dad planking on top of the family car".

Several Bollywood actors including Amitabh Bachchan and Shah Rukh Khan have danced "Gangnam Style" during the Indian television game show Kaun Banega Crorepati. On November 6, 2012, Katy Perry tweeted a picture of herself dressed in a "Gangnam Style"-inspired outfit consisting of a blue suit, black tie and a pair of sunglasses.

Political activism

File:Gangnam style north korea.jpg

Screenshots from North Korea's parody of "Gangnam Style"

On September 18, 2012, the North Korean government became the first to use "Gangnam Style" for political activism when it uploaded a parody with the title "I'm Yushin style!" onto the government website Uriminzokkiri. The parody mocks the South Korean ruling conservative party presidential candidate Park Geun-hye. It shows a photo-shopped image of the presidential candidate performing the dance moves of "Gangnam Style" and labels her as a devoted admirer of the Yushin system of autocratic rule set up by her father, Park Chung-hee. A few weeks later, "草泥马 style" (literally, "Grass Mud Horse Style"), was uploaded onto YouTube and other Chinese websites by the political activist and dissident Ai Weiwei. In his parody, Ai Weiwei dances "Gangnam Style" with a pair of handcuffs as a symbol of his arrest by Chinese authorities in 2011. According to the Associated Press, goverment authorities had removed the video from almost all Chinese websites the next day.

In order to show his solidarity with Ai Weiwei and to advocate the freedom of expression, the British sculptor Anish Kapoor produced the video Gangnam for Freedom, which features other prominent British artists as well as human rights activists from various international organisations including Index on Censorship and Amnesty International. A few days ago, the global grassroots network Students for a Free Tibet had uploaded a parody of "Gangnam Style" to show its support for the Tibetan independence movement. According to Max Fisher from The Washington Post, this parody of "Gangnam Style" was likely to be filmed in Dharamshala, the home of Tibet’s government-in-exile in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh.

Other parodies and covers

"Gangnam Style" as parodied in a comic strip published by Dyess AFB, an airbase of the U.S. Air Force.

Reaction videos and parodies have been made for or with the music respectively. Some of these user generated videos have received international media recognition. "Gangnam Style"-related videos have also been uploaded by the CPDRC Dancing Inmates, Cody Simpson, Seungri, Latino, Fine Brothers, Barely Political, students at Eton College, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders. Universities in which students parodied the song included Ohio State University (The Ohio University Marching 110,) York University, McMaster University, Cornell University, University of Oregon, University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Boston University, Dartmouth University, Stanford University and the University of Michigan.

In addition, the song was also parodied by cadets from the United States Military Academy, United States Merchant Marine Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Air Force Academy, and the Royal Military College of Canada; soldiers from the 210th Fires Brigade, the 2nd Infantry Division, servicemembers from an undisclosed unit and location in Afghanistan, servicemembers from the China Coast Guard's Jiangsu division, 150 officers from the People's Liberation Army Air Force, as well as high ranking officers from the Royal Thai Navy. College Humor also uploaded Mitt Romney Style; while What's Trending uploaded Obama Style.

During the two weeks leading up to August 8, 2012, nearly 1,000 videos with the word "Gangnam" in the title were uploaded onto YouTube.

On August 16, 2012, Nelly Furtado performed the song at her concert in the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Manila, Philippines. In Geneva, Switzerland, about 300 people gathered at the International Monument to the Reformation for a parody of "Gangnam Style" organized by a local radio station. According to The Christian Post, "Gangnam Style" was parodied by Inri Cristo, a self-proclaimed reincarnation of Jesus Christ, to attract the public's attention. Another noteworthy parody is "Jerusalem Syndrome Gangnam Style", which is shot at the Old City of Jerusalem and includes important heritage sites such as Mahane Yehuda Market, Western Wall, Zion Square, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. It also includes a special cameo appearance by the Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat. The Times of Israel described the parody as "a unique Jerusalem twist to the song". The Argentine TV series Graduados made another parody, danced by the Argentine-Korean actor Chang Kim Sung. Obama Gangnam Style! is a parody by Barack Obama impersonator Reggie Brown.

Track listing

Digital download

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Gangnam Style"	3:37

German CD Single

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Gangnam Style (Video)"	4:13

Charts and certifications

Charts

Chart (2012)	Peak position
Australia (ARIA)	1
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	1
Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)	1
Belgium (Ultratop 40 Wallonia)	2
Brazil (Billboard Hot 100 Airplay)	13
Bulgaria (IFPI)	1
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)	1
Colombia (National-Report)	4
Czech Republic (Rádio – Top 100)	1
Denmark (Tracklisten)	1
Europe (Euro Digital Songs)	1
Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)	1
France (SNEP)	1
songid field is MANDATORY FOR GERMAN CHARTS	1
Greece Digital Songs (Billboard)	1
Honduras (Honduras Top 50)	1
Hungary (Dance Top 40)	3
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)	6
Iceland (Tónlist)	3
Ireland (IRMA)	2
Israel (Media Forest)	1
Italy (FIMI)	2
Japan (Billboard Japan Hot 100)	20
Lebanon (Lebanese Top 20)	1
Luxembourg (Billboard)	1
Mexican Airplay Chart (Billboard)	1
Mexico (Monitor Latino)	1
Netherlands (Single Top 100)	1
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	1
Norway (VG-lista)	1
Poland (Top 5 Video Airplay)	1
Portugal Digital Songs (Billboard)	1
Russia (2M)	6
Romania (Romanian Top 100)	42
Scotland (OCC)	1
Slovakia (Rádio Top 100)	9
South Korea (Gaon Digital Singles)	1
South Korea (Billboard K-Pop Hot 100)	1
Spain (PROMUSICAE)	1
Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)	2
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	1
UK Singles (OCC)	1
US Billboard Hot 100	2
US Pop Songs (Billboard)	10
US Rap Songs (Billboard)	1
US Hot Dance Club Songs (Billboard)	3
Venezuela Top 100 (Record Report)	47

Sales and certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)	6× Platinum	420,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)	Gold	15,000*
Belgium (BEA)	Gold	15,000*
Canada (Music Canada)	4× Platinum	320,000^
Denmark (IFPI Danmark)	Platinum	30,000^
Italy (FIMI)	Platinum	30,000*
New Zealand (RMNZ)	2× Platinum	30,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)	Platinum	30,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)	Gold	400,000^
United States (RIAA)	2× Platinum	2,449,000
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

Successions

Order of precedence
Preceded by "Battle Scars" by Guy Sebastian feat. Lupe Fiasco	Australian ARIA Singles Chart number one single 7 October – 11 November, 2012	Succeeded by "Don't You Worry Child" by Swedish House Mafia feat. John Martin
Preceded by "One Day / Reckoning Song" (Wankelmut Remix) by Asaf Avidan	Ö3 Austria Top 40 number one single 12 October – 26 October, 2012	Succeeded by "Diamonds" by Rihanna
Preceded by "One Day / Reckoning Song" (Wankelmut Remix) by Asaf Avidan	Belgian Ultratop 50 number-one single 29 September – 27 October, 2012	Succeeded by "Skyfall" by Adele
Preceded by "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift	Canadian Hot 100 number-one single 6 October – 17 November, 2012	Succeeded by "Diamonds" by Rihanna
Preceded by "Inzerát" by Kryštof	Czech Republic IFPI number-one single 15 October 2012	Succeeded by "Inzerát" by Kryštof
Preceded by "Hjertestarter" by Nephew	Danish Tracklisten number-one single 14 September – 26 October, 2012	Succeeded by "Better Than Yourself (Criminal Mind) Pt. 2" by Lukas Graham
Preceded by "This Is Love" by will.i.am featuring Eva Simons	Finnish Singles Chart (Suomen virallinen lista) number-one single 18 September – 9 October, 2012	Succeeded by "I Cry" by Flo Rida
Preceded by "Diamonds" by Rihanna	French SNEP Singles Chart number-one single 21 October – 28 October, 2012	Succeeded by "Skyfall" by Adele
Preceded by "One Day / Reckoning Song" (Wankelmut Remix) by Asaf Avidan "Skyfall" by Adele	German Media Control Singles Chart number-one single 12 October, 2012 (first run) 26 October, 2012 (second run)	Succeeded by "Skyfall" by Adele "Diamonds" by Rihanna
Preceded by "Come On Home" by Titanium "Live While We're Young" by One Direction	New Zealand RIANZ Singles Chart number-one single 24 September – 1 October, 2012 (first run) 15 October - 5 November, 2012 (second run)	Succeeded by "Live While We're Young" by One Direction "Thrift Shop" by Macklemore & Ryan Lewis featuring Wanz
Preceded by "This Is Love" by will.i.am featuring Eva Simons	Norwegian VG-lista number-one single 28 September – 19 October, 2012	Succeeded by "Diamonds" by Rihanna
Preceded by "I Love" by Sons Of Nature	Swiss Singles Chart number-one single 4 November – 11 November, 2012	Succeeded by "Skyfall" by Adele
Preceded by "Hall of Fame" by The Script featuring will.i.am	UK Singles Chart number-one single 6 October 2012	Succeeded by "Diamonds" by Rihanna

Release history

Country	Date	Label	Format	Ref
South Korea	June 15, 2012	YG Entertainment	Digital download
European Union	September 4, 2012	Schoolboy, Universal Music	Digital download
United States	September 6, 2012	Schoolboy, Universal Music	Digital download

"Oppa Is Just My Style"

"Gangnam Style"
Song

"Gangnam Style" was officially re-released on August 14, 2012, as "Oppa Is Just My Style" (Korean: 오빤 딱 내 스타일), featuring additional vocals provided by Korean singer and 4Minute member Hyuna. Mallika Rao of The Huffington Post wrote that the video was "apparently retrofitted here to work from a woman's point of view, but the main difference we're spotting is less invisible horse riding and more sultry side-eyeing." The accompanying music video has garnered over 150 million views several weeks after it was uploaded onto YouTube.

See also

• Korean wave
• List of notable people who have danced Gangnam Style
• List of number-one hits of 2012 (South Korea)
• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2012 (Korea)
• List of Internet phenomena

External links

• "GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일)" music video on YouTube
• "PSY (ft. HYUNA) 오빤 딱 내 스타일 M/V – Oppa Is Just My Style" music video on YouTube
• "PSY – GANGNAM STYLE (강남스타일) M/V Making Film" on YouTube
• Kirsten Acunaon: Here's The English Translation Of 'Gangnam Style', Business Insider, September 19, 2012