"GANGNAM STYLE" deserves its own thread

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.