Gentleman (Psy song)
| "Gentleman" | |
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"Gentleman" is the 19th K-pop single by South Korean musician PSY released on April 12, 2013 (KST).[2] It is the follow-up to his international hit single "Gangnam Style", which at the time of "Gentleman"'s release had been viewed on YouTube 1.5 billion times.[3] The first public performance of the song, with its associated dance, was unveiled at 6:30pm on April 13 at Seoul World Cup Stadium in Seoul.[4][2][5] A poster was released containing the main line of the song 'I'm a mother f***** [sic] gentleman',[6] with the term reportedly being a mock-censored form of "father."[citation needed]
As of April 17, 2013[update], the video has been watched over 128 million times on YouTube.[7] It has set YouTube records for most views in 24 hours,[8] fastest video to garner 1 million likes, and fastest video to reach 100 million views.[9]
History
PSY first announced a new single would be forthcoming by Twitter on March 8.[10] He originally intended to follow up "Gangnam Style" with a song called "Assarabia", which is Korean slang for Oh Yeah!, but changed course upon realizing that the title might be offensive to Arab listeners.[3]
For the April 13 debut of the dance, Psy instructed fans to attend in white attire.[2][11] 50,000 people attended the April 13 World Cup Stadium performance, which gave the nation a respite at a time when political tensions are high due to concerns about the intentions of Kim Jong-un.[3] The 6:30 PM Seoul time/ 2:30 AM U.S. ET performance was broadcasted live on YouTube.[4]
Although his previous song's associated widely-imitated horse-riding dance had brought him notoriety, the "Harlem Shake" had recently challenged PSY and "Gangnam Style" for the top position in pop culture. PSY felt a lot of pressure to satisfy his growing fanbase, saying "Of course I feel more burden than before, because lots of people are watching." The new dance is characterized by fast, hip-swinging movements in Stuff.[12]
When the song was being introduced, Jeff Benjamin of The Independent reported that "A trailer posted on Psy’s Twitter links to a thudding beat with a repeated lyric of 'I'm a mother, father, gentleman'. Or 'motherf***er [sic]' depending on the interpretation of Psy's accent."[3] The song features more English than "Gangnam Style".[13] The website The Huffington Post classifies the song as electro-pop,[13] while Time describes it as K-pop.[1] An English-language translation of the lyrics can be seen here.[14]
Dance
The dance in the chorus originates from girl group Brown Eyed Girls' 2009 hit, "Abracadabra".[15] In describing the dance in advance of the song's debut PSY stated, "I can't tell you about the dance but all Koreans know this dance - but (those in) other countries haven't seen it."[2]
Reception
Critical reception
Initial reactions were mixed as critics acknowledged the catchy tunes of "Gentleman" but also remained skeptical as to whether it will surpass the popularity of "Gangnam Style". CNN's Jake Tapper asserted that Psy's concern about being left behind as a one-hit wonder is "completely founded".[16] Simon Vozick-Levinson, associate editor at Rolling Stone, pointed out that "It's almost impossible to create another hit like "Gangnam Style".[16]
Chart performance
Within 48 hours of its release, "Gentleman" became the most downloaded song on half a dozen music streaming services in South Korea,[17] entered the top 10 songs on iTunes in Finland and Switzerland,[18] debuted at No. 61 on the UK Singles Chart.[19]
Music video
Production
Psy has stated that filming the video took two days without any sleep.[3] The video is described to have a "sexual twist" in comparison to his previous single and features Psy performing a "fast, hip-swinging dance" and wearing an array of jackets in wide-ranging colors and sunglasses that he has become known for wearing.[12] Before the release of the video, he hinted that the choreography will be a unique take on a classic dance by stating that "All Koreans know this dance. But (those in) other countries haven’t seen it".[20] The dance was later revealed to be the "arrogant dance" from the song "Abracadabra" by South Korean girl group Brown Eyed Girls;[note 1] The music video also features an appearance by Brown Eyed Girls member Ga-In.[15] Psy reportedly paid a royalty to Brown Eyed Girls' choreographers in order to use the routine[21]
Infinite Challenge cast members Yoo Jae-suk, Park Myeong-su, Jeong Jun-ha, Jeong Hyeong-don, Noh Hong-chul, HaHa, and Gil make appearances in the video, with Yoo Jae-suk and Noh Hong-chul making return appearances from Gangnam Style.[citation needed]
Synopsis
As a tuxedo-clad Psy, wearing sunglasses, walks up a paved street hill with an entourage of comparatively older men, he stops to kick a traffic cone. He is in a boutique with the men who follow him while holding shopping bags. As he passes through the shop's corridors, he grabs the breast-contour of a female mannequin. He lounges in a patio chair while a girl dances behind him.
Psy dances at a playground with a guy (HaHa). Psy plays Candy Crush on his smartphone, as a woman jogs on a treadmill, but then Psy adjusts the controls to speed up the treadmill, propelling the woman to the floor while he laughs.[22] Psy and a girl talk at a restaurant table (Noh Hong-chul does his pelvic thrusts shown in a mirror reflection nearby), but Psy then pushes the bottom of her coffee cup to her face.
Yoo Jae-suk, wearing his yellow tuxedo and sunglasses as in "Gangnam Style", rushes into an elevator, needing to reach a bathroom, but Psy arrives and stalls the trip by pushing all the elevator floor buttons; he taunts the doubled-over Yoo with his dance.[23] At a library, Psy farts in his hand and puts it in front of a girl's face.[note 2][22][23]
Psy does his hip-swaying dance while putting his hand to his chin. The other guys do the same while the girls in ponytails sway and face the other way. He crashes a kids' soccer game,[23] and gets sprayed by a lawn sprinkler. He applies lotion to a girl in a purple bikini (Ji Ho-jin)[24] and a girl in a yellow bikini (Choi So-ra)[25] (meanwhile, a guy carefully works a hair dryer and brush on his bald head); he undoes the yellow bikini girl's top. He lies on his belly on the floor while two guys (Park Myeong-su and Jeong Jun-ha) sway on top of him. He takes a girl to be seated at a restaurant, but pulls the chair away, causing her to fall. Another guy (Jeong Hyeong-don) offers his hand to help her up, but yanks her down again.
Psy sees a girl (Ga-In) who wears a shirt with the red letter 'G', and who is working out at the weights. He takes off his jacket and flings it at her while he does a pull up. As he leaves, the girl follows him. They go to a tented market cafe where she abruptly pulls the seat from under him. Psy plays around with noodle dough as if it were a scarf; while he sucks at some hand pulled noodles, she is sucking on a oden fishcake on a stick.
Psy and the dancers do the sway again. He parties with the people at the tent. He starts saying "Wet Psy!" He sits with the two bikini-clad girls. He sings "Wet PSY!" over and over; he and the two girls are catapulted into the swimming pool.[23] He and the dancers sway at the pool, an indoor field, and outdoors.
The after-song footage has an outtake from the tent cafe. The girl dances around the pole of a street sign while PSY does the same with a wider traffic light pole. A girl is about to make a photocopy when Psy rushes in and photocopies his...face. The copier prints the stylized promotional intertitle of the song and music video.
Thus, the video features Psy performing ungentlemanly pranks on various people until he sees who pulls unmannerly pranks on him.[15] Todd Gilchrist of MTV described the video to have "effectively parod(ied) a rich heel, subjecting ladies within his celebrity orbit to 'Billy Madison'-style gags like pulling chairs out from beneath them and speeding up treadmills until they fall off."[23]
Release
The "Gentleman" music video was posted on YouTube on Saturday, April 13, 2013, shortly following a live premiere and performance from PSY's live concert, which was streamed online. The song was released at midnight on April 12 in each time zone.[26] Many people seeking access to the song early online were blocked by Psy’s record company, Universal,[5] but Time reports that others were able to access the song prematurely.[4] When asked why he released the song a day before his "Happening" concert, he stated via Twitter "cause We Gotta Sing Along".[27]
Reception
16 hours after its release, "Gentleman" surpassed 10 million hits on the video sharing platform YouTube.[28] The audio-only version of the song had more than 1.2 million YouTube hits prior to the concert.[12] 160,000 viewed the debut concert online.[12] With 22 million views, the video set the record for most single-day views, [29] beating Justin Bieber's "Beauty and a Beat", which was viewed 10.6 million times.[8]
On April 16, around 15:00 GMT, it became the the fastest video to gain 1 million likes, taking only 3 days and 3 hours. At around 20:00 GMT, "Gentleman" became the fastest video to exceed 100 million views, taking only 3 days and 8 hours. The previous record was set by Kony2012, a video about Ugandan warlord Joseph Kony, which received 100 million hits in just over 4 days.[9]
Track listing
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Gentleman" | Park Jae-sang, Yoo Gun-hyung | 3:14 |
Charts and certifications
It has debuted at number 12 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart for the week ending April 27, 2013.[30]
Release history
NotesReferences
External linksDespués de Gangnam Style llega Gentleman
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