"GANGNAM STYLE" deserves its own thread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bZkp7q19f0&feature=share

nearly up to 28 million views and counting (in less than a month!!) single (or at least, video) of the year?

so good

a friend of mine living in korea sent me a link to this updating me on what's currently hot over there. it is...mesmerizing.

It's a terrific single and easily my favourite video of the year. It might have more potential to be a viral hit outside of K-Pop's traditional markets than anything in recent memory.

i'd argue it's already a viral hit over here

the dance move like you're simultaneously riding a horse and air drumming is

not sure how to finish that sentence

don't forget the extended crab walk

gangnam style

is how you finish any sentence

sexy lady

and this bit from the youtube description

From 2 years of break, PSY is finally coming back with his 6th album 'PSY6甲'!
The album's weighty title song 'Gangnam Style' is composed solely by PSY himself from lyrics to choreography. The song is characterized by its strongly addictive beats and lyrics, and is thus certain to penetrate the foundations of modern philosophy.

p OTM

may i just say

http://gangnamstyle.co.cc/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/4nFG7.gif

fitness chicks

yeah this video is a gif potential goldmine

i was gonna say that part when he was on the bus going OP! OP! at all the passengers was my favorite, but i forgot that he yells at a butt

since you asked

http://gangnamstyle.co.cc/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/33c.gif

http://gangnamstyle.co.cc/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/tumblr_m7bqskUYCO1r4w3xeo1_500.gif

http://gangnamstyle.co.cc/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/tumblr_m82zrbj2Yz1rqfkvoo1_1280.gif

my favorite bits are when the girls do the dance with serious face, reminds me of the girls from smang it

ps: hyuna is fine

I hope the TJ guys are watching, its time to step up their game

You know how for a while there Pitbull was the guest on just about every song released? I think we need to fly this guy over to the US and have him do Korean-language guest verses on about eight dozen pop songs.

And of course now there's a T-shirt.

kinda love this, but there is a distinct lmfao vibe to it (not necessarily a bad thing, but it's there)

cute video but the song on its own is kind of a snooze

i forgot that he yells at a butt
i forgot that he yells at a butt
i forgot that he yells at a butt
i forgot that he yells at a butt
i forgot that he yells at a butt
i forgot that he yells at a butt
i forgot that he yells at a butt
i forgot that he yells at a butt
i forgot that he yells at a butt

i've heard people saying there is an lmfao vibe but it sounds more like 2NE1. the only lmfao song i know is party rocking and gangnam style sounds a lot more like i am the best than party rocking.

I hear the lfmao vibe too but it's like 5x catchier than anything they've done so there's that

i don't think "catchier than party rock" is a real thing

Nice interview http://10.asiae.co.kr/Articles/new_view.htm?sec=ent0&a_id=2012081310112383260

do starving peasants living in the grip of Kim Jong Un know they are missing out on this?

It might have more potential to be a viral hit outside of K-Pop's traditional markets than anything in recent memory.

definitely. a few days ago i brought this up to play to my 12 yo brother but of course he'd already seen it

i can't put a finger on why but i am hearing Pump Up The Jam in here

It's totally a "Jock Jams" song. He was smart to release it during the Olympics.

(My Jock Jams Kpop mix:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaHryLkF5Jw&list=PL260E01B49C1B1BA2&feature=plpp_play_all

)

And here's the sequel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wcLNteez3c4

It's a parody, right? I mean, if "Gangnam Style" was supposed to be the opposite of everything Kpop is right now (flashy, closed-off, overly self-serious), this one is exactly all of those things. It even has the raining confetti/fireworks things they do at Kpop concerts to get the audience hyped up.

Played this video (the original) for co-workers in a meeting yesterday. Reception was a mixture of laughs and bafflement (like "why did you show us this?"). Then I went to the 2NE1 show in Newark last night and they played the video on the big screen beforehand and everyone in the arena shouted "Oppa gangnam style!" (and sang the "Hey sexy lady" part) as one, and it was awesome.

i've been shouting "open condom style", myself.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=87XXQmhkPMU

hammer time!

Hearing this everywhere these days, which is awesome. OTOH I was pretty much the only person stanning for "Party Rock Anthem" on last year's EOY singles list, so ...

oh my god just seen this.

dodgers style

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jz4H5WI6bvY

definitely reminds me of 2NE1 which is a good thing.

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/08/gangnam-style-dissected-the-subversive-message-within-south-koreas-music-video-sensation/261462/

Dance not too different from "The Bird," no?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSh1wcARKpo

Somehow I preferred Daler Mehndi's "the song is about dancing, and I wanted the video to just be me dancing" explanation

a few thoughts:

1) I'm assuming the ppl who don't hear LMFAO in this never heard "Sexy and I Know It"?
2) I keep mentally substituting Ricky Gervais in for PSY as the video goes on
3) i forgot that he yells at a butt
4) this is fucking great

sad that the author of that atlantic piece couldn't talk about this without shitting on the rest of k-pop or without considering "american music" some kind of origin of satire

LA Dodgers video is lol

3) i forgot that he yells at a butt

remembered this sentence in the shower this morning for no apparent reason too

okay the dodgers vid won me over

love it but hope k-pop doesn't get pigeonholed to a layperson as just gangnam style :-[

http://maxgif.com/5zY

late pass but this is awesome

aaaaay sexy lady

Just had a segment on this on NZ news. In the US, is it likely to get much in the way of radio play/chart action, and if so, where?

it may debut on the hot 100 soon due to digital sales. i would be ecstatic if it got any airplay but not really holding my breath for it

I was a little shocked at the Dodgers video, I know this has 55 million views or whatever but the idea that a K-pop hit can go over well for 40k random people in LA, many of whom actually recognize the guy on the big screen, that really blows my mind

it's almost as if a sizable portion of people who live in LA might have reason to follow korean pop culture

which is why K-pop typically goes over well at Dodger Stadium

I heard this on the radio Saturday in Pennsylvania

(ok it was a specialty show where they track "what's hot on the Internet" but still, it was a big mainstream commercial station not some left-of-the-dial ish)

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m960wtjU9a1r06m1wo1_500.gif

gangnam = jiangnan?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiangnan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gangnam-gu

google translate failed me :(

more gangnam style in the news:

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/08/28/gangnam-style-viral-popularity-in-u-s-has-koreans-puzzled-gratified/

http://opencitymag.com/beyond-the-horse-dance-viral-vid-gangnam-style-critiques-koreas-extreme-inequality/

My friend wrote the latter one so I'm biased, but I think these are both much better than that Atlantic article I posted earlier.

^^^^^
both very good

I do think that the first one touches on an interesting point, acts from non-English speaking countries that try to hit it big in America are going to have a hard time if they just try to emulate Western music. Falco and Rammstein were very German, Daler Mehndi was obviously straight Bhangra, then there's a handful of Spanish-language hits that are all bastardized forms of salsa, reggaeton, etc. What else? Maybe Dschingis Khan? Was there ever a foreign-language hit in America that sounded like everything else on the radio?

99 luftballons

though i guess it was the english version that was a hit? idk

o-zone? eiffel 65?

Falco was very Austrian!

99 Luftballons was a hit in the original German in the US.

Of course. But I don't know much of the Austrian music scene. Germany had a lot of acts similar to Falco though.

The point is that all these tunes are things that would have worked in their own country. When they start trying to pandering to Americans, things almost always go downhill.

Generally 'pandering to Americans' means 'singing in English', though, so you won't find too many US-focused records released in Spanish or Korean.

a friend was telling me about some Senegalese records, i think it was Youssou N'Dour, where the original versions have all these insane drum breaks related to traditional music. the drums are the first thing to get dumbed down/stripped out when the records are released internationally, and you pretty much have to go there to get the real versions.

xp a surprising amount of those guys do speak English!

though i guess it was the english version that was a hit? idk

Pretty sure both versions of the Nena song were hits. That's kinda cool.

Wasn't "Major Tom (Coming Home)" released in German first, but a hit in English?

After the Fire is a good circuitous cross cultural tale: British band gets hit in America by doing English language cover of Falco song, a couple of years before Falco had his own US hits doing Falco in English.

Falco is kind of a one-and-a-half-hit wonder. I'm surprised he never had another hit after that.

man, gangnam style is all over my fb feed.

here's a gangjeong style vid made by people participating in the struggle against the building of a naval base in gangjeong village on jeju island.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3g5j4CrzBw&list=UU2yyX9b_8H7KhD0Y3PrOGBQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYFmxgzPP3Q

Heard a Cantonese karaoke version of this blasting from the backroom of my Korean dry cleaners this afternoon...? All middle-aged++ employees...

girl at 29 seconds in the last video (Jade) is an obv. ilxor/future ilxor

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zPP5Bvtr2Dg

p good

has this been mentioned?

BIGBANG & PSY & 2NE1 - I AM FANTASTIC GANGNAM STYLE BABY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AU_p_8pXiF4

http://www.billboard.com/news/psy-signs-to-scooter-braun-s-label-will-1007922152.story

"Dress classy, dance cheesy."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=bzVKxd6y6dk#at=97

^^That's Britney Spears getting a dance lesson from Psy, btw.

omg I just watched that 2NE1/BIGBANG/PSY mash-up and that is like the pinnacle of human achievement right there

so they played this song (not the mash-up) at the bar i was at Saturday. i demonstrated the horsey dance for the girl I was chatting with. she suddenly had to go find her friends :(

this song is incredible -- it's totally LMFAO-core btw, for a minute there i thought the beat might be a straight rip

omg I just watched that 2NE1/BIGBANG/PSY mash-up and that is like the pinnacle of human achievement right there

It's close, at least.

is this going to catch on with indie-types? has it already? that would interest me for various reasons

It already has, hasn't it? And I think LMFAO did to a degree.

was there a lot of ironic appreciation of "party rock anthem" as well?

pretty much ime. i think the indie reception of "gangnam" otoh has been totally unironic, most people i know who are really into are like stereogum readers.

nothing ironic about that

mostly i'm just trying to suss out how much of this is, like, "lol crazy foreigner!" ... aka would lot of the people into "gangnam style" ironically be decrying the state of pop music if this was an english-language redfoo solo track

I don't really think "crazy foreigner" has much to do with it, it's pretty clear that Psy knows exactly what he's doing. I do think the reception would be different if it were in English but I think that's mostly because this type of music is about dumb vocal mantras, and in this case nobody really knows what that mantra is besides "Heyyy, sexy lady!" Could definitely be wrong here but I think the lyrics being in Korean at least adds a new wrinkle for the type of person who would just dismiss LFMAO off-handedly

think you're giving ppl too much credit

the "knowing" take on this is that it's a social critique -- how pointed is it really? i don't know what that means in context.

i did learn about gangnam via psy, which seems like the most insane place on earth

It's not really much of a 'critique'. An interview with PSY surfaced quite early where he says it's just a joke - a guy who says he's high style yet acts like a crazy fool. Not sure what's so insane about Gangnam, though. Your average rich people district.

It's by far the biggest hit of the year in Korea.

oh cool the academic phase

from what i've read, no, it's not even your average rich ppl district! but that may be a consequence of korea being a huge economy on a tiny landmass

mostly i'm just trying to suss out how much of this is, like, "lol crazy foreigner!" ... aka would lot of the people into "gangnam style" ironically be decrying the state of pop music if this was an english-language redfoo solo track

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, September 11, 2012 9:25 AM (20 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

my feeling on this is that it isn't an "lol crazy foreigner" thing and more like a "lol funny vid" thing because the humor in the vid is like idk pointed towards american sensibilities, like it's funnier than american music vids idk I don't get the sense that people look down on it but then again who knows I'm not white and I live in a korean world for a good amt of time

I finally watched the video / heard the song for the first time after seeing this phrase show up with more frequency over the last couple of weeks. I was confused why everyone was excited about something that I assumed had to do with mechanized anime robot suits.

again the only thing I can really compare this to is Daler Mehndi, which yeah had a lot of "lol India" reactions at first but I think a lot of people legitmately loved the song + video. in the case of Gangnam Style the music itself is not really different than what we're used to here. the whole video is obviously a parody of something.

pretty much ime. i think the indie reception of "gangnam" otoh has been totally unironic, most people i know who are really into are like stereogum readers.

― een, Tuesday, September 11, 2012 11:16 AM (31 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

the only people that keep trying to put this on at parties are me (internet!), my friend that everyone seems to think is my brother (internet!), and another friend (korean!). usually results in one or three of us doing the horsey dance, and...ppl suddenly having to find their friends.

is this how bronies feel all the time?

btw i'm not chalking up its entire popularity to "lol foreigner"... i think there's tons of people that are genuinely into it. i mean it sounds exactly like an LMFAO, so that's no surprise. they're very popular. i'm just wondering about a certain subgroup of music fans (sorta strawman-ish admittedly, but still)

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/newsfocus/911426-can-psy-hit-gangnam-style-bring-k-pop-to-a-global-music-audience

(includes a bit of "lol foreigner" handwringing)

is this how bronies feel all the time?

hearty irl lol

lol Thermo and gbx

if you don't hear how much better this is than lmfao then there is no hope for you

can't both be really good

i think psy is infinitely more charming and memorable as a performer, but it's no zero sum game

Best crossover since this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fgdfcKtRQW8

curious how this will do on EOYs here & elsewhere

is this going to catch on with indie-types? has it already? that would interest me for various reasons

ALL WE FUCKING CARE ABOUT IS KPOP WHITEHOUSE AND OUR CATS

oh yeah, it's definitely better than LMFAO

btw i'm not chalking up its entire popularity to "lol foreigner"... i think there's tons of people that are genuinely into it. i mean it sounds exactly like an LMFAO, so that's no surprise. they're very popular. i'm just wondering about a certain subgroup of music fans (sorta strawman-ish admittedly, but still)

― J0rdan S., Tuesday, September 11, 2012 12:57 PM (1 hour ago) Bookmark

well I won't deny that k-pop has been influenced a lot by american pop music, but gangnam style pretty solidly resides in its own k-pop world rather than being a 'direct rip' of LMFAO

ALL WE FUCKING CARE ABOUT IS KPOP WHITEHOUSE AND OUR CATS

― Lamp, Tuesday, September 11, 2012 2:12 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark

elite gymnastic can go suck a d

i'll cede to the god on this but regardless of the origins my point is just that this song would play especially well in a climate where LMFAO are massive pop stars

This is about to break into the top 100. It's #1 on the Bubbling Under chart and if you search twitter for "Gangnam Style" there's a lot of of "Oh wow, I just heard 'Gangnam Style' on the radio."

I think the appeal basically breaks down into: funny video + familiar sound (cause LMFAO) + catchy as fuuuuuuuuck.

+ he yells at a butt

never forget

I forgot he yells at a butt

It's already #58 in Canada.

So that's like, what, like #81 in America?

(Sorry, lazy Canada joke)

#58 with a butt

Was featured in UK free paper Metro yesterday (at every train station and on a lot of buses across the land). Will see if it blows up in the UK too..

omg where's Geir

lool

i'd def be into a "hongro style" parody, gotta say

*camera shows up close shot of a hand strumming a black electric guitar, pans out & its just kids on halloween*

they were just discussing this on The View lol

Top 10 US itunes (#2 in Canada). I guess it's now officially the first legitimately big k-pop hit in the West.

#1 in Finland!

He taught Britney Spears how to do the dance on Ellen.

He didn't yell at her butt tho. :(

i'm not sure how you'd ever even begin to separate out "lol crazy foreigner" type appreciation from other sorts when the artist in question is singing in a foreign language (one that's largely unfamiliar to westerners) while deliberately acting crazy. especially when he hails from a culture that's frequently reduced to "lol crazy" stereotypes.

not a slam at the popularity of "gangnam style", just in response to j0rdan...

heard it on top 40 radio twice today :)

#33 on UK iTunes, been climbing all week. Video has been #1 on UK iTunes for quite a while.

is s. korea really reduced to "lol crazy" stereotypes that often? i've always thought of it as having a pretty westernized pop culture, esp. compared to say, japan.

stereotypes:

japan: omg japanese are so crazy!
korea: omg japanese are so crazy!

lol, true

Just debuted at #64. It begins.

And #16 in Canada.

stereotypes:

japan: omg japanese are so crazy!
korea: omg japanese are so crazy!

kyary pamyu pamyu

i think the stereotype ppl might have is related to its "inscrutability"

the WSJ piece breaks this all down pretty well, though. read that. it also explains the tradition of subversive critique that it's a part of & makes it seem pretty mocking of teh upper class in gangnam

Now officially the most-liked video in Youtube history, apparently.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPP5Bvtr2Dg

If you haven't gotten enough of Roh Hongcheoul doing his signature Jeojil Daeseu ("nasty dance"):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REePS1XomPM

Paris Hilton cameo at 1:17. Still prefer Masaki Sumitani (Razor Ramon Hard Gay).

and now #1 on itunes! perhaps in time it will even top the hot 100?

#2 on australian itunes chart, #1 on video chart

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dlhhfpFBTk

brilliant

i've been shouting "open condom style", myself.

― Porto for Pyros (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Saturday, August 18, 2012 12:17 PM (3 weeks ago) Bookmark

so far my only direct experience with this song is a morning show playing a 2 second clip and talking about how it sounds like they're saying "open condom style." i kinda wanna see how long i can keep that as my only contact with it.

that clip is p great

http://d3j5vwomefv46c.cloudfront.net/photos/full/655876848.gif?key=400226&Expires=1347673722&Key-Pair-Id=APKAIYVGSUJFNRFZBBTA&Signature=nKSxFmiOF54VVIKyu2MgLP5Rle1QrTy4KZJYXoAV-MBC02bRqLixeWotwizgGbKUiHk6slPkprson1ZqGouuNfOEGs5-FZgeBmnOUe8NPh19ovs-rehngmO1Eo3jdNY620xyEsMK3EW3j7bIk2obfdEX3g37OYOMQ-1jrHKFCAg_

it doesn't sound anything like "open condom style" also that doesn't even make sense

more importantly

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ma281gdV8p1qk6d4jo1_250.gif

this guy is incredible

finding out the story behind this made it way more interesting 2 me.

i know when i heard that he had yelled at a butt, everything really clicked

what's the story behind the jockey dance? is it just a send-up of rich people in gangnam owning horses and such?

or is it just that it look ridiculous

it is fun to do, try it

dude turned an 8:30 am performance to moms at the today show into like a closing set at glastonbury

it totally sounds like "open condom style"

damn he totally killed The Today Show

the only two things i really thought when i finally watched this were a) at least the new "Macarena" is better than the old one, and b) this is totally the first time in 3 years that a video has upped the ante visually from "Bad Romance"

2 Thoughtz:

Those synth stabs that punctuate every so often are totally "Pump Up The Jam", without directly ripping them off like "I'm A Slave 4 U".

I feel like there's a real underdog dynamic at work. It's like... there's this chubby 30-something Korean dude (not by any means your typical pop star) taking the world by storm with a song that everybody loves, you can't help but root for him.

Oh yeah, and I had made the mental connection with the Macarena, but yeah, "Gangnam Style" is way better. The dance is better too.

I feel like there's a real underdog dynamic at work. It's like... there's this chubby 30-something Korean dude (not by any means your typical pop star) taking the world by storm with a song that everybody loves, you can't help but root for him.

― tuomas without a nose ring (The Reverend), Friday, September 14, 2012 10:17 PM (17 minutes ago) Bookmark

yeah

yeah i sorta had a slight sickening feeling in my stomach when i imagined this getting played at some wedding i'm at in three years but fuck it

I did a wedding a couple weekends ago and thought about playing it but decided not enough people would know it yet.

yeah prob not

you shoulda done it just on the off chance that 2 or 3 people would be really pumped about it and everyone else would be totally confused

I feel like there's a real underdog dynamic at work. It's like... there's this chubby 30-something Korean dude (not by any means your typical pop star) taking the world by storm with a song that everybody loves, you can't help but root for him.

― tuomas without a nose ring (The Reverend), Friday, September 14, 2012 10:17 PM

it's absolutely amazing, he utterly owned that crowd. and they were primed for it because of... a satirical foreign-language rap for a dance-pop number with a video where everyone dances a horsey dance

i heard it a wedding a couple weeks ago! the bride requested it, i think

going to a wedding in a couple weeks1!! stoked

are there gonna be a lot of ppl dressed up as Psy on halloween? prolly right? electric blue blazer, blowtie, sunglasses, part the hair....

do the horsey dance all nice

the thing about the today show thing that amazed me is that he kept dropping the mic to let the audience sing the last word of the line or whatev, and they seemingly always knew the line?

seeing exuberant koreans singing along is awesome too

yeah i was wondering if he was surprised. like in the first 15 secs he got the sense that the crowd just knew every word so he started letting them come in.

also that pause before "oppa gangnam style" is even doper in the live setting

Well when the line is "SA DA HEY" every single time it's pretty easy to remember. I've had that stuck in my head for like weeks now.

the thing about the today show thing that amazed me is that he kept dropping the mic to let the audience sing the last word of the line or whatev, and they seemingly always knew the line?

the whole thing is giving me sort of a Linsanity vibe - I can't imagine how surreal it is for Koreans over here to see one of their own basically become a star overnight

maybe a lot of the audience did know the words to begin with but c'mon they definitely rehearsed for it to be that on point

the youtube description is pretty hilar

The song is characterized by its strongly addictive beats and lyrics, and is thus certain to penetrate the foundations of modern philosophy.

open condom style will definitely penetrate

doesn't sound anything like "open condom style" also that doesn't even make sense

I don't know what they've done to the colours in the video but it's so bright and crisp and clean. It's like the anti teal & orange.

if you pronounce "gangam" as Psy does in the song & "condom" as you would in daily conversation they do not sound at all alike any further than they both scan trochaic & end with the letter m.

don't fight the mondegreen, guys

ha ha fat korean said 'condom', so hilarious amirite guys

i love weddings

what kind of weddings do you go to where that's what happens man

i really don't see how mishearing a lyric implies some kind of racist condescension that's way beyond the general "ha ha fat korean said 'hey sexy lady'" reactions to the song

It has a kind of additional air of suggesting that words that aren't familiar to English speakers aren't valid and meaningful. Especially when the correct word is there in the title.

Sorry, aren't familiar to you and the other open condom style people, I should have said, there are plenty of people who speak Korean and English.

i mean, i read the atlantic thing, i appreciate that the words are meaningful, but sometimes people's ears trick them and they hear different things. happens when it's all the same language, happens when you know what the words really are, etc.

yeah but to hear what he's saying as "condom" you have to do a preemptive "Korean guys might pronounce it like this!" move which is p. gross. It does not sound like "condom" as pronounced by people who use the word "condom." so, that is how "mishearing" a lyric gives off a little race condescension whiff imo

i think you're seriously understanding how a hard "g" can sometimes sound like a hard "c," and how a western ear that is not used to hearing "n" after "ng" might imagine a "d" somewhere in there. but whatever, it doesn't matter, point is the first time i heard the phrase i didn't know what the song was called or what it was really saying and the person who played it suggested their mishearing that i now can't unhear.

like i probably wouldn't have heard those words on my own, it's not uncanny or anything. but once someone suggested it it's in my brain, and the sound is close enough that i can't easily shake it.

er meant to say "seriously underestimating"

i love the rhyme structure of this song, don't wanna break it down tediously but i love it i love it

also there's no rhyming, the singalong parts boils down to two or three phrases, no?

yeah but to hear what he's saying as "condom" you have to do a preemptive "Korean guys might pronounce it like this!" move which is p. gross. It does not sound like "condom" as pronounced by people who use the word "condom." so, that is how "mishearing" a lyric gives off a little race condescension whiff imo

I dunno if you've ever seriously tried to sing along to a foreign language song but sometimes it's just easier to translate it into similar sounding English words and then just sing those. "Gangnam" is not really easy to sing. I agree it doesn't sound *that* much alike but, come on. Like there's a part in Rip Slyme's "Funkastic" that sounds an awful lot like "dynamite pig" and I don't think there's any "race condescension" if you choose to point that out

also, this guy isn't fat

he got a round face tho

I'm just scared of Walken in a poncho.

you wanna get inside, Corno B?

idk I never thought it sounded like "condom" but I just tried listening to it without watching the video and it sounds close enough to "condom" that I'm willing to give "open condom style" a pass.

I think it is related to this sort of phenomenon:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX9FYxadPoQ

This guy's ironic playboy thing is kind of like an internet lol culture version of Falco, but with high-speed boom economics displacing the decadent old money euro aristocracy.

now I'm really wishing Falco was around for the internet era

you shoulda done it just on the off chance that 2 or 3 people would be really pumped about it and everyone else would be totally confused

― some dude, Friday, September 14, 2012 7:53 PM Bookmark

ha, that was exactly the response I suspected would have entailed. btw this "open condom" argument is the stupidest shit I have ever read in my life.

thx for backing me up crut

On SNL:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdp5O4scTpI

heard it on the radio this evening :D

saw a gangnam style flash mob in melb cbd st last week – ~40 people going for it in bourke st mall, people in passing trams utterly baffled

ban australia

About 119,000 video results for gangnam flash mob

it is the most potent dance in a long time

honestly this song rules

really want a PSY/LMFAO tour

haha, the other day I saw a poster for a "LMFAO-themed EDM night" and even as someone who likes LMFAO, I was like *rmde*

Heard it on the radio on my hometown today. That's my pop culture parameter; if it blows up in this tiny hellhole, it's a hit pretty much everywhere.

Also the last time I saw the youtube vid it had 40M views and right now it's close to 200M.

Amazes me how it's obviosuly the video and not the song to blame for the popularity. Wrongly assumed people didn't really cared for music videos anymore.

Also noted: the reddit/9gag meme influencers hate pop music culture, its stupid lyrics and repetitive beats except when it's from Korea.

the fact that the song is catchy as hell is obviously a good part of it. again comparing it to "Tunak Tunak Tun" I think the song was good enough that people were motivated to watch it a dozen-plus times

I mean, the song is currently #1 on US iTunes, so there's something to the song too. But surely this is the most music-video driven hit in the US since...maybe "Here It Goes Again"?

I wasn't sure if anyone actually liked that song though

Discovering this song for the first time via SNL made me feel hella old.

I really don't get why this is such a huge thing. Maybe we are currently in a meme vacuum or something and this is the funny video you watch on lunch break at the office?

its hugeness derives from its huge awesomeness

sometimes things just miss you! like i had no idea that the "i like turtles" kid was even a thing seen 100 million times, and was similarly surprised that not everybody on earth knew and loved arthur the haitian weatherman.

I for one am surprised that "Garbage Day!" does not have 200 million views, it just feels perfect to me

sometimes things just miss you! like i had no idea that the "i like turtles" kid was even a thing seen 100 million times, and was similarly surprised that not everybody on earth knew and loved arthur the haitian weatherman.

I don't know either of these things.

may this reach 1 billion views. GOD BLESS

otm

oh man i forgot about "garbage day!"

What was the last non-English language song to recieve this level of tv / radio airplay in the united states

sometimes things just miss you! like i had no idea that the "i like turtles" kid was even a thing seen 100 million times, and was similarly surprised that not everybody on earth knew and loved arthur the haitian weatherman.

this is the one internet meme-y thing that i always think is bigger than it is, but surprisingly few people seem to recognize it!

What was the last non-English language song to recieve this level of tv / radio airplay in the united states

― Milton Parker, Tuesday, September 18, 2012 12:57 AM (12 minutes ago)

Just brought up that question in the car upon hearing this song sandwiched between Drake and Rihanna. Is it as far back as 99 Luftballoons? Not too well versed in stuff like Enrique Iglesias, maybe that was on heavy rotation more recently.

has anyone posted a translation yet? http://koreanwavetimes.blogspot.com/2012/08/psy-gangnam-style-lyrics-translation-in.html

these translations are pretty terrible but still interesting. "a girl who looks virtuous but the time to play comes, then she can be willing to change in accordance with it"

You see she makes her own money, pays her own bills
Always stays fly, keeps it so real
But behind closed doors she a nasty girl

I wonder how high this will go on the hot 100.

i just heard it in public for the first time today, r.i.p, america

It's been #1 on US iTunes for a few days now. That almost always presages a top 10 hit, at least.

gtfo whiney

apparently this was on KISS FM today, I guess PSY has finally arrived

Citizens of the United States, you are paying for these dudes' college education:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=xhHufV9g4k4

This translation seems a bit more normalised (despite the typo in the first line), plus there's an interesting explanation of the "oppa" concept at the top of the comments: http://www.kpoplyrics.net/psy-gangnam-style-lyrics-english-romanized.html

What was the last non-English language song to recieve this level of tv / radio airplay in the united states

in the u.k. and pretty much everywhere else las ketchup 'asereje' was huge tho google says it only made 39 in the u.s. billboard top 40 (and 54 in the billboard hot 100, what's the difference?)

"Dragostea din tei" also massive in the UK and elsewhere a couple of years after that. "We No Speak Americano" was a US #29 in 2010 sung in Neopolitan.

In the US, I honestly can't remember one since "Macarena"

"Gasolina"?

Also "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)"

the answer is Coldplay, innit?

"open coldplay style"

Shakira's "La Tortura" made it to #23.

google says it only made 39 in the u.s. billboard top 40 (and 54 in the billboard hot 100, what's the difference?)

It made #39 on the Top 40 Tracks chart -- this was a (now-defunct) airplay-only chart. The Hot 100 is the main U.S. singles chart, which combines airplay and sales (and now even streams, IIRC?).

yeah it cracked me up when the lead single from Shakira's Spanish album did better than the lead single from its English counterpart (although "Hips Don't Lie" came along and eclipsed all of the above). DJP's suggestions are probably the 2 biggest, but i do wonder what the biggest non-English non-Spanish hits in America are.

Of all time? These have all hit #1:

1. Domenico Modugno, "Nel Blu Dipinto Di Blu" ("Volare") (1958, Italian)
2. Kyu Sakamoto, "Sukiyaki" (1963, Japanese)
3. The Singing Nun, "Dominique" (1963, French)
4. Falco, "Rock Me Amadeus" (1986, German)

Another 21st-century Spanish hit: "Oye Mi Canto" (has a few lines of English in it, but no more than "I Know You Want Me").

Spanish is a little bit different by virtue of there being way more Spanish speakers in the country + lots of people taking Spanish classes + there are cognates and stuff

I have no idea what they're saying in the chorus of "Calabria" so I have no idea if that half-counts or not

I think we can all agree that this is the first time a song from East Asia topped the charts over here

2. Kyu Sakamoto, "Sukiyaki" (1963, Japanese)

Was Panjabi MC - Mundian to Bach as big in the states as it was in Mexico? Don't really follow charts but that song got some heavy airplay over here.

i think the jay-z rapping over the top version did well but i doubt the original did? it was huge in the UK.

<i>In the US, I honestly can't remember one since "Macarena"</i>

Wasn't the version of the Macarena that got big in the US the version that featured English vocals in the verses?

"Mundian To Bach Ke" - #33 US

What about Aserejé? That was big in the UK that year I seem to recall, no idea how good it did in the USA.

Also Wes - Alane and Lambada were definitely top hits in the USA.

As memory serves, "Macarena" had one English verse but it was still almost all Spanish. "Asereje" did nothing in the US. I see on Wikipedia that it hit #54, and even that surprises me.

It seems Alane didn't chart on the states at all either. You're missing out on some good, corny tunes America.

Enigma - Sadness part 1 (latin/french) only went to #5 in the US

Gasolina was mega.

"Gasolina" only made it to #33 but "Oye Mi Canto" made it to number #12? Weird, the former felt like a much bigger deal.

Agree w/that, tho maybe Nina Sky gave "Oye Mi Canto" a wider appeal?

I'm guessing "Gasolina" maybe had a crossover delay thing going on? Like by the time it hit English-language stations, Spanish-language stations had moved on?

Probably because Billboard was (is?) mainly payola driven, not actual sales. Gasolina was #1 or at least top 5 all across the world.

Sukiyaki is so great btw. why doesn't it get played on the radio always?

I hear the Taste Of Honey cover on the radio from time to time.

Probably because Billboard was (is?) mainly payola driven, not actual sales. Gasolina was #1 or at least top 5 all across the world.

― Siegbran, Tuesday, September 18, 2012 11:41 AM Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

no.

inevitable

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l4uDSnYQx3Q

btw the snl skit was really unfunny and embarrassing, but you know....snl!

yeah, it's to be expected at this point. "hey, we're aware of this thing that's supposed to be really funny, I'll bet it'd be even funnier if we did it with our cast of crazy goofs!!!"

i thought ppl yelling at butts was gonna be a thing like planking or tebowing but i can't find a tumblr for it.

they were yelling at butts in portland before it was cool

http://i.imgur.com/kKD5t.jpg?7736

eating money out of a butt != yelling at a butt

#11 in the US this week

Up to #2 on UK iTunes.

they were yelling at butts in portland before it was cool

― catbus otm (gbx), Wednesday, September 19, 2012 8:01 AM (8 hours ago)

that is golden gate park, san francisco, california, son.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRwPRfYLWPE

Always going to happen.

surely that half arsed effort will be bettered by a player w/ more finesse soon

Ha, Balotelli tweeted yesterday that he was going to use that celebration, guess he got beaten to it.

Balotelli would execute the horsey dance with much more verve.

That's Mario trying to emotionally blackmail Mancini into putting him in the team, that is..

been celebrating goals with gangnam dance since mid-august

#11 in the US this week

So I haven't seen this noted anywhere, but that makes it highest-charting foreign-language hit in the U.S. since "Macarena," right? I'm not counting "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)," which is mostly in English.

what about Drake's hits?

http://rlv.zcache.com/img/imt-prd/pd-137299890145917137/isz-m/at-238560305421145726/realview.jpg?urbanimage_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.urbandictionary.com%2Fproducts.image.php%3Fdefid%3D2387389%26greeting_card_outside%3D1&urbaninside_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.urbandictionary.com%2Fproducts.image.php%3Fdefid%3D2387389%26greeting_card_inside%3D1&urbanword_txt=CHORTAL

I believe this video actually is the weaponized entertainment of Infinite jest. Just startled that the Entertainment turns out to include a dude yelling at a butt.

I'm still pondering how the ADD generation decided that the next best thing is a music video that lasts over 4 minutes. I still haven't watched the full video. Both the song and the video overwear their welcome by the middle.

I'm trying to unpack that challop and failing.

I'm really thinking this might be the most important music video since OK Go treadmill time. I think its mix of gorgeous/inscrutable nails what the internet generation wants perfectly. AND it looks amazing because no one in America is spending this type of money on videos.

Gonna win all the VMAs next year if Scooter Braun can keep his name alive for 10 more months

"inscrutable"

yes, the appeal of gangham style on the internet is due to its totally common and universal imagery of yelling at butts and rapping on the toilet

I've seen Eric Prydz style pervy house videos that are more inscrutable than Gangnam Style. I mean come on.

i agree! i'm just saying that the appeal for the first month of it, was a lot of people passing it around going "WTF is this even, hey check out this gif wtf right

http://awesomegifs.com/wp-content/uploads/psy-elevator-gangnam-style.gif

andycarrollthinking.jpg

lol

Needs a Keith Lemon parody.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSvVwylGte

I feel like this video was ready made for gifs in the way that modern political speeches are designed for news soundbites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0wpMqEvfsA

Backwards it's a story of a Korean man who slowly loses all his friends in a freaky dance competition.

I feel like this video was ready made for gifs in the way that modern political speeches are designed for news soundbites.

― look at this quarterstaff (Hurting 2), Monday, September 24, 2012 5:29 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

"Countdown" got there first though, probably others too.

Not really sure what the point of this article is but hey: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/24/gangnam-style-south-korean-pop

Starting your article about the song playing into stereotypes with North Korea lols, referring to his 'comical English' (where in the song is this?), calling him and Flo Rida fat and the scare quotes in the bit about hip-hop stars' "intellectual" property: all great moves! I mean, there is some obviously terrible shit happening in the reactions to the song - Saturday Night Live actually had someone playing him and saying 'sank you' - why not address that?

'comical English' (where in the song is this?)

HEEYYYYYYY SEXY LADAY is pretty comical.

http://www.motherjones.com/mixed-media/2012/09/gangnam-style-asian-masculinity%20

I'm embarrassed to say that I wasn't even aware of this until a week ago

didn't want to get all identity politics when this was blowing up but I guess the discussion is trending towards that direction

my biggest problem w/ these kinds of articles in 2012 is that they kind of ignore stuff like 'like a g6' or the success of jeremy lin

lex was dismissing this as "comedy Asian" on twitter over the weekend, which really threw me because i was under the impression that this dude has a pretty serious career and there was some pretty interesting sociological background behind the lyrics.

yeah i was all twisted about that SNL skit because 1) thought it was awesome that they actually brought him out but 2) that damned "sank you" was so so awful

dude DOES has a pretty serious career, but as I understand it it's as a jester/trickster type of pop star rather than a heartthrob/pinup type of pop star

IOW there are more parallels to LMFAO than just the beat

haha I was trying to figure out why 'weird al' seemed like the most appropriate touchpoint for me personally

jon, I don't think the idea of psy being successful in Korea and Americans maybe taking this as "comedy Asian" are two ideas that are at odds

the backwards gangnam is astonishing, best bit of cheap process music since usmileambient

secret of success is clearly making a glitch record with 91 era euphoric ardkore stabs and then film a video designed to appeal to the latent genocidal racism of middle america

i had been trying to avoid this ever since i asked twitter what it was and whether it was "internet humour" and the answer was basically yes. and then i went to a wedding and couldn't avoid it. it's TOTALLY only popular because of the comedy asian. dislike this immensely.

oh and also the great song

you have no idea lex

there is no great song

it sounds like lmfao

Song that sounds like popular songs mysteriously also popular

lmfao's success is just 'lol comedy american'

it's all abhorrent comedy

you're all abhorrent comedy

it's fun

I would crack a joke at this point but we all know how well humour goes down

Having a funny video that transcends language is almost a prerequisite for foreign pop songs breaking English-speaking markets at the moment. They aren't going to get played on radio so viral success via YouTube is the only way it's going to happen.

That said, most of the people i've spoken to who like it, other than those who routinely listen to K-pop, tend to be those who also liked Dragostea Din Tei and Asereje - largely because they thought they were good, catchy songs. A silly video opens the door to a wider audience but it's not going to sell a million MP3s.

Personally, I like this song because I'm racist.

Good timing for this:

On September 22, Tiger JK along with 2NE1, Idiotape, Nosaj Thing, and other acts performed at The Creators Project which is a visual arts and technology showcase founded by Intel and “Vice” magazine that travels around the world and recently was held at Dongdaemun Design Plaza in Seoul from September 21 – 23.

But, during Tiger JK’s performance, while he was rapping, he was heckled by fans (of Caucasian descent) in the crowd who kept shouting for him to dance the horse dance of Psy’s viral hit “Gangnam Style.” The fans wanted Tiger JK to stop rapping and to dance the horse dance, and continued to interfere with his performance forcing Tiger JK to cut his performance short.

Tiger JK tweeted that it triggered something dark in him, and his “F*** you turned into F*** all the white people to F*** CNN to F*** Hollywood.”

Tiger JK then stopped his set and screamed for ten minutes. Tiger JK told the offensive fans that he wasn’t there to make them laugh, to dance for them, and swore at them for thinking that Asians were only good for dancing and making them laugh.

Tiger JK tweeted “F*** all yall who think Asians are here to make you laugh by dancing my ass off. F*** Hollywood thinking Asians are just a comic relief.”

Tiger JK after posting the explanation of the chain of events that led to his tirade then apologized to innocent fans and The Creators Project founder “Vice” magazine, and explained that he wasn’t proud of being racist towards white people as he is against racism but stands by his point that Asians should not be seen as dancing clowns for the amusement of America.

To balance this out I met some Korean girls on town in Seoul yesterday who requested this song specifically to see us white folks do the horse dance.

idk who tiger jk is but AWESOME - where's that link from abcfsk?

http://www.soompi.com/2012/09/25/tiger-jk-goes-on-racist-rant-due-to-gangnam-style-heckling-at-the-creators-project/

hang on THAT'S the one called a "racist rant"???? for fuck's fucking sake, all the fucking time this happens

WHITE PPL STOP PLAYING THE VICTIM

Ugh. Go in on them cats, Tiger JK.

fuck white ppl, fuck cnn is a fine sentiment & i enjoy healthy hyperbole including hating on things as tainted because some of the ppl who get behind them are choads finding another outlet for their gross caracatures, but pretending that's the sole or primary mechanic in play in gangnam style's success is not credible unless mb you think the huge flash mobs in eg jakarta are full of self-hating asians

it was pretty uncomf when psy was on ellen to teach britney spears how to do the dance and he actually had to stop and interrupt them to say hello and introduce himself to the audience

SEOUL - A pop star whose song Gangnam Style became the first Korean hit to top Apple’s music download charts has also worked his magic on his father’s software firm, helping it double in value since singer and dancer Psy burst onto the global scene in July.

Psy’s father, Park Won-ho, is the chairman and controlling shareholder of South Korean semiconductor company D I Corp and its market capitalisation has surged to 113.5 billion won ($101.29 million) on the main Seoul bourse, making it as of Tuesday the 459th most valuable stock measured by size.

“The positive sentiment from ’Gangnam Style’ has attracted investors just because of the fact that the company is owned by Psy’s father and uncle,” said Lee Sun-tae, a researcher at NH Investment and Securities, who added Psy is not a shareholder in the company.

“The popularity will slowly dissolve in time, naturally.”

South Korea’s legion of retail investors, mainly middle-aged people, tend to jump on speculative stocks.

find it ironic that tiger jk ended up apologizing to vice magazine over an outburst over 'racism'

it's called reverse racism and it's a growing problem for the embattled white community, barthes

jon, I don't think the idea of psy being successful in Korea and Americans maybe taking this as "comedy Asian" are two ideas that are at odds

right, this is totally true, i think i misread what lex was saying about this song. the way Americans treat this song is (mostly) ridiculous and (often) sahmeful. i thought lex was saying that the song itself was "comedy Asian", not the reactions. i get it now and, yeah, lex is right wrt the way Psy is getting treated for the most part.

wrt the Ellen thing, isn't her schtick at this point all about stupid/silly dances? kinda makes sense in that context i guess, but she still should've like at least given him a proper introduction.

wow a vice party got racist i'm shocked

fuck that dance, i'm still moving it like bernie

could combine the two for a sweet new dance

wow a vice party got racist i'm shocked

hahahaha

lol @ "got"

i think the "ha ha look at that funny asian" reaction is definitely happening but the song sounds great on the radio in the same way that "party rock anthem" sounded great... it seems to me that the song would prob win over many people who haven't seen the video (rare as they are, i guess)

i guess this argument is invalid if you hate lmfao

Elevator scene is the best.

you forgot that he yells at a butt

why would that be funny?

i could never get away with yelling at butts. ergo, it's awesome.

why would you want to?

I am in Seoul airport and all the local papers are trumpeting psy's triumphant return after horsey dancing across the states.

dunno why anyone would want to. psy clearly wanted to, and he just went for it. he plays it like it's just the thing to do in that situation. the funny part, imo, is that there's a video of a guy yelling at a butt and it didn't particularly register until someone pointed it out. in retrospect it seemed odd that someone would actually do that because, you know who does that? but there it is, a guy yelling at a butt.

x-post

seriously trying to unpack my reactions to the video, though. feel like it takes a certain panache to pull off silly horsey dances and there's a joyousness in that perhaps.

in other news this thread is now the top google search result for "yelling at butts."

the yelling at a butt thing is one of the funniest things I have seen all year

(bearing in mind ~the whole clip~ is a pisstake of gangnam)

btw, my "you forgot that he yells at a butt" remark was a response to eazy's "elevator scene is the best" comment in this vein:

i was gonna say that part when he was on the bus going OP! OP! at all the passengers was my favorite, but i forgot that he yells at a butt

― arby's, Monday, August 13, 2012 6:07 PM (1 month ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

re-reading makes me think lex thought i was following up on the previous comment, given the "why would that be funny?" response:

i think the "ha ha look at that funny asian" reaction is definitely happening but the song sounds great on the radio in the same way that "party rock anthem" sounded great... it seems to me that the song would prob win over many people who haven't seen the video (rare as they are, i guess)

i guess this argument is invalid if you hate lmfao

― teledyldonix, Tuesday, September 25, 2012 2:03 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

The brief period when this was fun is going to be forgotten by the time it's slipped into its infinitely longer lifespan of middle-aged regional sales managers doing the horsey dance at office Christmas parties. For ever. While stamping on a human face.

tearful otm

Yep, enjoy it while you can.

every day I'm shufflin'

http://askakorean.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-obligatory-gangnam-style-post.html

That's a good piece. It's hilarious how many articles have been written by people with zero background knowledge of Korean culture or K-pop providing an 'in depth insight' into what's going on in the video.

ogmor otm, sharivari otm. i liked the track before i saw the video and still keep it on spotify play. it's a good time.

새가 날아든다 왠갖 짭새가 날아든다
Birds fly in, all kinds of dirty birds fly in
새중에 넌 씨방새~ 날지 못하는 새 짭새
Among the birds you are a fuckshit bird, a flightless dirty bird
새가 날아든다 짭새가 날아든다
Birds fly in, the dirty birds fly in
문제야 문제 우리나라 경제 좆같은 짭새와 꼰대가 문제
It's a problem, it's problem, the economy is a problem, the dickhead dirty birds and the assholes are the problem
새가 날아든다 짭새가 날아든다
Birds fly in, the dirty birds fly in
짭짭짭짭짭짭 짭새가 문제
D-d-d-d-d-dirty birds are the problem

^would listen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxmUTkHb2Tk
^did listen. it's good!

AMONG THE BIRDS, YOU ARE A FUCKSHIT BIRD

THE ASSHOLES ARE THE PROBLEM

it occurs to me at this late date that i haven't seen any translations of this song

i haven't really looked tho

Jumps up to #2 on the Hot 100 this week.

#1 in the UK this w/e fo sho

http://www.entertainmentwise.com/news/89074/Gangnam-Style-Rappers-Outrageous-Vow-If-Single-Hits-Number-One?
"If it ranks number one in the Billboard chart, then I will perform Gangnam Style topless in a place where everyone can watch," Psy said in a conference on his return from the United States.

more pop stars should do this

That AAK article was very good.

This DJ Doc song sounds like Coolio. I'm down with that.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_0P-A79gT9w/UGIjKSAQyPI/AAAAAAAAAb4/jSu2CnV2xhA/s640/page33.jpg

^ enjoying this glimpse of a parallel world w/ a t-paincentric cosmology. askakorean article is excellent.

There is a dark side of this code of humor as well. In the current day American pop culture, it is ok to laugh at Asians doing strange things. (Think Ken Jeong's character in the Hangover series.) On a certain level, PSY -- a pudgy, funnily-dressed Korean man -- is a comfortable target to laugh at. This is not to say that people who enjoy Gangnam Style all have a sinister, racist motive. This is only to say that people's motives as they approach a certain phenomenon are complex and multitudinous, and not all of them are necessarily positive.

this is a blazing otm and apparently difficult for people to understand

That last sentence hedges so much it's difficult for me to understand how it could be blazingly right or wrong.

it is more the general idea of the thing -- it is possible for individuals to enjoy this, but the nature of cultural phenomena demands introspection

chubby dorky guy doing silly dance is funny. pretty sure of zach galifinakis had done same song, it'd still be equally (and equivalently) funny and the greeks wouldn't be upset. of course, they probably can't afford to get upset right now.

because zach galifinakis definitely codes as nonwhite, and is a greek native?

i mean he's basically a minotaur

because americans have a history of stereotyping greek men as asexual clowns?

I don't think Psy comes across as asexual in the video - clownish, I guess, in that ridiculous things happen, but otoh he seems to be in control of the chaos around him.

don't get trolled, zach

the point doesn't lie in what's literally in the video but in how the video is treated by the same masses of americans who consider ken jeong in the hangover to represent the height of what asian men can offer the west

xp

again, the idea is that it's ok to find gangnam style awesome and funny, but it's important to wonder why IT is the k-pop song that crossed over rather than any of the previous of k-pop songs that went out of their way try to cross over. it sort of further cements the idea that asian men can't have success in the west unless they're making us laugh.

look, i'm being glib but not outright trolling –

the song is popular, as far as i can tell, because

1) it's got a funny, replicable, and immediately identifiable dance move
2) it's a sprightly song very much in the same (albeit non-greco but hanguk-in-ian) vein as 'party rock'
3) the accompanying video is bouncy, confectionary, surprising, and oddly lavish
4) the character is a delightfully doughy korean man-child surrounded by models, expensive cars, and gorgeous vistas that clash with his everyman/everyboy affect
5) as far as i can tell, it's entirely, unmistakably parodic.

<i>chubby dorky guy doing silly dance is funny. pretty sure of zach galifinakis had done same song, it'd still be equally (and equivalently) funny and the greeks wouldn't be upset. of course, they probably can't afford to get upset right now.</i>

Well we did have this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2bCc0EGP6U

I wonder if Daniel Dae-Kim is sitting in Hawaii on set going "fuck you, Ken Jeong"

nobody looks at zach galifniakis and thinks "hey look at this greek dude"

Greek ppl do

DD-K is a pretty exceptiony exception, no?

what i'm saying, maybe ineptly, is it's hard for me to believe that the HAHA SILLY ASIAN laughs trump (in cultural currency, or in ranking of people's motivating factors in watching the video) the HAHA SILLY CHUBBO laughs or the HAHA STUPID DANCING or the HAHA WTF ODDBALL laughs or the HAHA I ACTUALLY KIND OF LIKE THIS SONG audience

Oh I have no doubt that "lol funny Asian" is the cornerstone of this song's success; the important part is that this impulse is generating money for Psy and leading to a recognition of the song as a piece of cultural trivia that's going to be a hallmark of future VH-1 broadcasts for decades to come

I'm not sure it's analytically separable xp

it occurs to me at this late date that i haven't seen any translations of this song

― goole, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 12:27 PM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

gonna be a bummer when it turns out to be "BEVERLY HILLS, THAT'S WHERE I WANNA BE"

IOW if the song didn't have anything going for it BUT "lol funny Asian", no one would actually care

I've always been disappointed at the fuss over Old Boy and the lack of love for Grandma Cop
http://pds19.egloos.com/pds/201010/27/03/b0007603_4cc82299e6a54.jpg

xp to soda: then you're an optimistic one. but all of those factors can coexist and they can all serve as major causes behind it becoming a potential #1 hit with a potential 300 million YT views. and if HAHA SILLY ASIAN is one of those factors, that is an important thing that demands commentary. and it's not like those other reasons all lack intersections with SILLY ASIAN.

i can plausibly imagine something similar happening with a non-English pop song by a white European, but there'd still be some element of otherizing 'lol other languages/cultures' element even if you took out race.

true (i remember listening to the streets in high school and certain friends could not stop giggling at the idea of a british rapper) but that doesn't mean that race isn't a big factor with PSY

-people's motives as they approach a complex phenomenon are complex and multitudinous
-not all are necessarily positive, some are sinister and racist
-the benign motives aren't separable from the sinister ones

Where does the commentary go from here?

yelling about it on the internet

i wasn't saying race isn't a factor, just disagreen with Dan's "IOW if the song didn't have anything going for it BUT 'lol funny Asian', no one would actually care"

i mean if an white american guy did basically the same (insane and expensive-looking) video for the same song w/ english lyrics, it might not be the meme of the year but it'd at least be the meme of the week

what's up rebecca black

anyway pretending to pull out discrete & separate reasons why it's a hit is nice and all but there's no denying that in reality, the success is probably due to the totality of all of those factors working together and race isn't really extricable at all

would it surprise me if a majority of americans who love gangnam style would also find this funny?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2f13chid8Y

(from an american tv show currently still in production as of 2012)

anyway pretending to pull out discrete & separate reasons why it's a hit is nice and all but there's no denying that in reality, the success is probably due to the totality of all of those factors working together and race isn't really extricable at all

would it surprise me if a majority of americans who love gangnam style would also find this funny?

i don't know that there are a majority of americans who love gangnam style. there are a bunch who appreciate it as flavor of the week, buut...

a lot of the so-called fans are <18 years old, and like the silly dance.

i still think SILLY CHUBBO IN EXPENSIVE OVERWROUGHT VIDEO is more motivating than SILLY ASIAN but then again, I'm an optimist on these things. (Otherwise I'd be mad about Sofia Vergara)

it really takes an optimist to believe that the truth is as simple as "America loves boobs"

Well, on the HAHA SILLY (ETHNICITY/RACIAL/NATIONAL IDENTITY) front, how come she gets waved under the bar while while chubby dancing Korean guy skips morosely at the back of the line?

i don't really care about this very much, except as it made me sad that i couldn't innocently enjoy the funny chunky-man skipping about like a two-dollar dingus on new year's day

I don't think his weight is a huge part of the video or its appeal either, you seem a bit fixated on it.

haven't there been plenty of lol euro trash memes over the years? I agree w/ remy, could see some eastern european or turkish or indian person doing this exact same song w/ the exact same video.

there's nothing particularly asian about it, even the music sounds like it could be from anywhere. trashy music videos are global.

i find all this discussion strange, he's got a roundish head but you guys are talking about him like he's ceelo or something

i'm not fixated on the weight, it's just that it's a funnier (and more noticable) component than the geographical component, for my money.

(i remember listening to the streets in high school and certain friends could not stop giggling at the idea of a british rapper)

smh at this clown

http://www.stompandflow.com/images/slick-rick-bling.jpg

the point has already been made (and far be it from me to add to this shitstorm) but psy is not overweight

there's nothing particularly asian about it, even the music sounds like it could be from anywhere. trashy music videos are global.

― iatee, Wednesday, September 26, 2012 9:53 PM (3 minutes ago) Bookmark

the point is that it slots really, really easily into preexisting ways in which asians are portrayed in american media

hyper sexed dancers?

I think his charisma is way more of a factor in the appeal of the video than anything HAHA ASIAN. He's got a great swagger about him and pulls of some really hilarious dance moves while maintaining an amazing deadpan.

lol the horsey dance = hyper sexed dance?

dude checking out a girl's ass = basically the polar opposite of how Asian males portrayed in American culture

and that's exactly the part of the video that everybody's miming

I can only speak for myself

fetchboy otm. psy, the guest stars and the whole clip ooze charisma so broad that it neatly appeals to western audiences. there are certainly 12 or so people in the world who are LOOOL AZN but in general people are responding because it's amazing.

dude checking out a girl's ass = basically the polar opposite of how Asian males portrayed in American culture

what is the polar opposite of a dude checking out a girl's ass?

a dude checking out a girl's vagina?
a girl checking out a dude's ass?

ass checking out dude, duh

ass bites man, now that's a story

bingo

i know of not one person who thinks this is funny because, y'know, asians

well, they are on the opposite side of the world so maybe there's like a coreolis effect of ass-checking out and it goes backwards

the brown eye blinks

have at least a decent number of people that showed gangnam style to their friends gone "hey dude check out this crazy asian music video" ? probably, yeah. that seems like de facto evidence for the argument that some of the popularity here is ultimately rooted in racist thinking. the video isn't racist, liking it isn't racist, but some of its popularity in the US is definitely due to some fascination with "the_east" and the fact that a chunky-guy might be less threatening when he's korean.

see also: bringing up gangnam style as a cool thing when you see your [asian] friend! how come you never told me about this, dude?? this is hilarious, watch it, you'll love it!!!

The prejudices are so ingrained in US culture, i'm not sure any funny video with an Asian lead wouldn't be seen by at least some of the audience as a 'lol funny Asian' video in a similar way. At the same time, there has always been an element of suspicion surrounding genuine US / European fan engagement with Asian pop culture - J-Pop and K-pop fans have always been accused of fetishising the culture, and the people, in an unhealthy way which make it difficult to see how any crossover song could escape the issues this one brings up.

I only knew a world where racist douchebags could enjoy pop music equally as the unprejudiced, BUT LO! For I have found this thread!

MTV Hits has taken to playing "Gangnam Style" back to back with a Wonder Girls video

I think the point I was trying to make was misunderstood

I completely agree that a good chunk of the fascination with this video is a racist "lol look at the funny Asian" impulse; my point, which I think is being echoed by others, is that it isn't the only impulse and the song's apparent staying power seems to be tied to people enjoying the actual song as well.

The Rebecca Black comparison proves my point from the opposite direction; the reason why that kept going was the staggering ineptitude on every level of the song/video, from the music to the lyrics to the performance to the bizarre, disjointed video (notice that RB hasn't been able to recreate that impact with anything else she's done). It was a perfect storm of terrible and weird that kept people fascinated; there was more going on than just "oh it's a bad song/video", it was an EPICLY, STAGGERINGLY, MIND-MELTINGLY bad song/video. Likewise with Psy, beyond the "oh funny Asian dude in a video" reaction, the song is super catchy with hooks galore and fits very neatly into the current US pop sonic palette; I honestly don't think people would be as into this as a phenomenon had we not just had two years of LMFAO domination.

Heard this on the radio last night, clubby top 40-ish station, and divested of the video it was still plenty of fun. It's sort of funny how Psy's Korean totally fits on the radio as well as the average gibberish-spewing jock jam redux act.

lots of people doing the dance at oktoberfest this year

with a Wonder Girls video

goddammit "like money" is horrible

yes it is

feel fairly certain this will be the UK #1 on sunday

and almost as certainly the US #1 the following wednesday

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbYiRUMp42c

the rest of the album is... not great

the LMFAO parallels continue

It's already #1 in Canada.

the only time i've ever seen it (this is a few weeks ago) was in a special edition tin in an asian music/dvd shop in the city. wondering whether i'll haphazardly walk into my local jb hi-fi and just be accosted by it.

i do find it kind of weird that PSY has like 5-6 albums out and nobody's ever talked about any of his other songs

Speak for yourself. I totally preferred him before he sold out.

quick, name a los del rio song besides "macarena"

are you guys done sucking the fun out of gangnam style yet

just curious

xxp that's different. first of all Los Del Rio wasn't the reason why that song was popular. secondly the Macarena was just a thing onto itself. nobody really knew who Los Del Rio was. you probably wouldn't have recognized them if you saw them on the street. PSY is on his way to becoming a celebrity here (at least on the level of, say, Ceelo Green). I dunno. I'd have thought someone would have combed their way through his other albums. I did have a listen to the first one and it's decent. Has Macho Man samples on it. Come on guys.

They should have PSY as a judge on next season of American Idol.

saw this guy last week, I was totally doing the psy ride-a-horsie move during his set

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDdWGUFSUv4

i do find it kind of weird that PSY has like 5-6 albums out and nobody's ever talked about any of his other songs
I saw this video posted by a friend on Facebook
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmHdefsaL6I

i would recognize Los Del Rio if i saw them on the street! they were sharply dressed ethnic men who appeared in a very popular music video!

was walking past a college dorm this evening and glanced at a window: one college freshlady was gesticulating about and demonstrating the horsey dance to her pals

#1 in NZ this week.

and yet I still haven't heard it on the street (apart from that one flash mob), even in shops that sell korean stuff

Murray Head surely felt that the rest of his catalog went neglected as well.

They should have PSY as a judge on next season of American Idol.

has the fact that he's a judge on superstar k4, a korean 'idol'/'xfactor' equivalent, been mentioned here yet? (i caught it sunday morning of labor day weekend on mnet, for those of you who get that channel.)

inevitable meta moment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XWdpl51n0U

i'm not trying to seduce you *chill-inducing laughter sample*

The comments on the Hyuna version of Gangnam Style are mostly of the "Pikachu I choose you lol" which is pretty grim.

i youtubed my way around to PSY's other stuff and found it a lot more middle of the road, heavily Eurocentric K-pop

which is not to say that Gangnam doesn't fit that description but lightning in a bottle and all that

a for instance:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmHdefsaL6I

Yeah, that just sounds like a Wisin y Yandel track in Korean.

this is probably the best case study of racism & overdetermined since the ronaldinho bottle opener thread

/overdetermination

sometimes i want to revive the ronaldinho bottle opener thread but the pretext never quite justifies it

Heard this for the second time on the radio today, only this time the kids were in the car.

Z: "Party Rockin'!"
A: Everyday I'm shuffling!
Z: Wait, is this Party Rockin?
A: This isn't Party Rockin'.
Z: What is this?
A: How did they make Party Rockin different?
Z: Wait, hat are they saying?

Etc.

I was cracking up the whole way home.

Uk #1 single (the RACISM charts)

I was at a party yesterday talking with someone who works with one of Gangnam's U.S. "sister cities." He stood around with cops and city officials watching this video below--saying, "Hey, wait, that's our fire station! That's our main street!" while at least one of these guys was locked up in the town jail.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ymhkIMj_d4

Do I have to watch all 3:20 to see what it has to do with Gangnam Style?

No. It's just that their local video doesn't match up to that of their sister city.

#1 in Australia.

and also being used as the music in the current big brother season ads iirc

and i've yet to hear it in the wild

Been to three weddings in past month and each time this was the absolute floor-filler without any single doubt.

saw some gangnam flyposters around soho yesterday

http://onemorelevel.com/game/gangnam_runner

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJ5pB3p2TEc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=59LHEldJcDk

*Yells at stumps*

A work colleague of mind attended a function tonight (that I couldn't make)...and no other than PSY was there!

Mind is blown.

Been to three weddings in past month and each time this was the absolute floor-filler without any single doubt.

― lil queequeg (peter grasswich), Tuesday, October 2, 2012 2:22 AM (1 week ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this might be a stupid question, but when this happens do all/most people do the horsey dance or do they pretty much dance the same way they do to a US pop hit with a similar tempo?

they do the horsey dance

Here's a question: you know it's been done, but has anyone heard a rock band cover this ironically yet?

would anyone who doesn't speak Korean have enough dedication to a stupid cover idea to learn all the words? i guess you could just do "hey sexy lady/ oppa gangnam style" and people would get it though.

i loved that acoustic cover maura posted upthread though

If there are people who learn Thai just to translate off-menu items at strip mall restaurants, or Japanese to watch anime with the original dialog, there are people who will learn Korean just to cover this.

At Orioles Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore, they were rockin' it Camden Style the other night at the baseball playoff game versus the Yankeees. They have dubbed in words and show the Orioles Mascot cartoon-style on the telescreen dressed up Gangnam Style

there's already a gangnam style english rip-off version that has charted in the UK

excellent.

i just don't get how people can attribute this song's popularity to american or western stereotypes of asians when it is blowing up everywhere: korea, SE asia, oceania, the caribbean.... everybody loves this song, the horsey dance, the guy's charisma, the inventive video, etc.

again, the idea is that it's ok to find gangnam style awesome and funny, but it's important to wonder why IT is the k-pop song that crossed over rather than any of the previous of k-pop songs that went out of their way try to cross over. it sort of further cements the idea that asian men can't have success in the west unless they're making us laugh.

― zachylon (zachlyon), Wednesday, September 26, 2012 5:43 PM (1 week ago)

it's not "omg so racist", it's "yeah, it is an awesome video and that is why it crossed over ... the question is why other songs did NOT cross over"