‘Gangnam Style’ Dance Fever On The Rise (강남스타일)
Ever since the famous Korean Pop song ‘Nobody’ by the Wonder Girls became a huge global hit in 2009, there were probably no other Kpop songs that came close to becoming a global sensation. All these are set to change by PSY with his wacky thumping dance video ‘Gangnam Style’ that was first published at 15th July 2012 on YouTube.
PSY’s original name is known as Park Jae Sang (born in December 31, 1977). He is a well-respected Korean hip hop artist cum rapper and is well-known for his satirical humor and entertaining persona, where he impersonates female singers such as Park Ji Yoon and Lee Hyori. An alumni of Boston University and Berklee College of Music, PSY proves that he still have the prowess to create not just a signature piece, but one that takes the world by storm, despite being out of action for the last 2 years.
Gangnam Style’s success is purely out of entertainment value. Perhaps it’s the catchy ‘Op…Op…Op..Oppa’ phrase, the comical horse-riding and cowboy dance moves, the hilarious way that PSY look in the video, or even the wacky title ‘Gangnam Style’ which totally makes no sense. Gangnam is one of the affluent districts in Seoul and is where all the big name offices and commercial buildings are located. ‘Oppa’ is brother in Korean. Just thinking of what ‘Oppa Gangnam style’ means can make you feel silly and laughing in bewilderment.
Anyway, there’s just something about the mish-mash of all these elements that makes the entire video an odd success. Fans of this video include Josh Groban, Robbie William and T-Pain. Pop-opera singer Josh Groban tweeted, “It’s a Gangnam Style world, we’re just living in it. Amazing video.” UK pop star Robbie Williams shared the video with his fans and this liner: “P.S. TRY WATCHING THIS AND NOT SMILING I DARE YOU…(NOT EVEN A LIP CURL).” US rapper T-Pain tweeted: “Words cannot even describe how amazing this video is.” ‘Gangnam Style’ has since gone viral worldwide and has garnered 39 million views in just a short span of less than 2 months.
Enough said, let’s check it out now.
If you are curious like me, here’s how PSY look like without the shades
PSY – Gangnam Style
Numberous versions of ‘Gangnam style’ videos are already sprouting across YouTube like fire, including spoofs and flash mobs. Just do a search and you’ll see many. After all the laughs watching the original video, let’s do a sexy take of ‘Gangnam Style’ by Waveya, which is a group of Korean Female Dancers who are famous for making sexy dance covers of popular Kpop songs. Enjoy the video!
