Sept 11,2012
During the MTV Video Music Awards on Thursday, Psy and American comedian Kevin Hart emerged onstage galloping to the pulsing “Gangnam Style.”
“Psy, dude, you got over 100 million hits on YouTube right now for ‘Gangnam Style,’ okay, and dude, how does that feel? Talk to me Psy!”
Donning a light blue tuxedo with his hair slicked back and shades on, the singer went on to talk to Hart in Korean, saying he was honored to be at the VMAs and always wanted to talk in his native language in front of a U.S. audience. Hart stood befuddled.
The music cued, the galloping resumed and the cameras cut to Emma Watson, who in turn introduced a live performance by Green Day.
Before the 2012 VMAs, Rain was the only Korean to have attended the annual MTV awards show. He received a special invitation in 2005. Last week was a testament to how big Psy has become and, some argue, how much potential K-pop has in the American market.
The dance moves are seemingly everywhere. Employees at a city-run swimming pool in El Monte, California, were recently fired for using the public space to perform the “Gangnam Style” dance en masse, and an assistant Catholic priest in Sangbong-dong, northern Seoul, became a YouTube sensation after filming his own version of the moves.
When Jay Leno of “The Tonight Show” cut to a parody of Mitt Romney’s entrance at the Republican National Convention late last month, the U.S. presidential nominee was shown kicking out and smoothly sliding in his right leg as he glided onstage before galloping toward the podium.
“You could see him trying to appeal to that younger voter, that younger demographic,” Leno joked before showing the clip.
Psy is neither cool nor sexy. He has said he made the music video for the song with silly, ridiculous clips in mind, hoping to become a hit in Korea by playing on the Beverly Hills-like culture of southern Seoul’s Gangnam District.
“I don’t look like Beverly Hills and I keep saying, ‘I’m a Beverly Hills guy, I’m Beverly Hills style, what’s up man?’ And they’re saying [laughs], ‘What?’?” the singer explained during a recent interview with ABC’s “Nightline.”
Since releasing the video on July 15, “Gangnam Style” has amassed 130 million YouTube hits. It took only 52 days for the song to reach 100 million, the shortest time to reach the milestone in YouTube history. Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” (2008) reached the mark in three years.
But rising to fame so quickly has left many wondering who is the man behind the designer shades and how did he learn to write such catchy hooks and gallop so elegantly? And what does the Korean star, who just signed with Justin Bieber’s manager, mean for the future of K-pop?
The Korea JoongAng Daily looks at the star from the beginning, tracing his path from his hit song “Bird” to a military scandal and the VMAs.
