"GANGNAM STYLE" deserves its own thread

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.