By JONATHAN HICAP, Manila
Bulletin
A year ago yesterday, Korean
rapper Psy released a quirky and funny music video titled "Gangnam
Style" on YouTube that featured a horse-riding dance.
"Gangnam Style" was the title track of Psy's new album
"Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1," which was also released on July 15,
2012.
 |
| Psy performing in Korea, on the "Ellen Show" and gracing the Billboard magazine. (Photos courtesy of www.newsen.com, "Ellen" show and Billboard) |
By the first week of August, the music video accumulated 12.3
million views and became viral. CNN, Billboard, Wall Street Journal and artists
praised the music video.
American rapper T-Pain tweeted on July 30, "Words cannot even
describe how amazing this video is."
Josh Groban posted, "It's a Gangnam Style world, we're just
living in it. Amazing video."
"Gangnam Style" climbed to the No. 1 spot Billboard's
K-pop Hot 100 and No. 15 on the YouTube charts.
On CNN, reporter Shannon Cook said, "It's the
video to watch. I have to admit I've watched it probably about 15 times."
Billboard.com said, "The now-signature horseracing
dance move has also gone viral as with Psy's fellow stars of K-pop. Don't expect
this craze to die down anytime soon as both the public and idols have all
embraced Psy's latest creation."
The Wall Street Journal blog wrote that "a considerable
slice of the U.S. blogosphere has been obsessed with Psy’s new video 'Gangnam
Style.'"
"Gangnam Style" has completely changed Psy's
career.
Scooter Braun, who manages Justin Bieber and Carly Rae
Jepsen, tweeted "How did I not sign this guy!?!??! Gangnam Style!!!!
#THEGREATEST."
On Aug. 15, 2012, Psy flew to the US to meet Braun, who
eventually signed him up under his School Boy Records.
"Gangnam Style" spawned parodies and was performed
by artists. Grammy winner Nelly Furtado performed the song at her Manila
concert on Aug. 16.
By the first week of September 2012, the music video has
reached 100 million views on YouTube and Psy started his promotions in the US.
He attended his first MTV Video Music Awards and appeared on
the "Ellen" show in the US and taught Britney Spears and Ellen
DeGeneres the horse-riding dance.
"Gangnam Style" debuted at No. 64 on the Billboard
Hot 100 and zoomed to the No. 1 spot on iTunes.
On Sept. 14, "Gangnam Style" became the most
liked video on YouTube with 1.6 million likes and had 162 million views.
Psy eventually claimed the official moniker "YouTube
sensation" when Guinness World Records declared "Gangnam Style"
as the most liked video on YouTube with 2.14 million likes, edging out LMFAO,
Bieber, and Adele's music videos.
In October last year, "Gangnam Style" climbed to
the No. 2 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and would stay there for weeks.
The music video reached 500 million views on YouTube
on Oct. 22. Psy then graced the cover of Billboard magazine.
The following month, Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and
Tourism announced that Psy would be awarded the Order of Cultural Merit for his
contribution to spreading hallyu or Korean Wave.
Psy performed "Gangnam Style" together with
Madonna at the latter's concert in New York City. The rapper also performed on
the American Music Awards.
In the last week of November, "Gangnam Style"
amassed 816 million views to dethrone Bieber's "Baby" as the most
viewed video of all time on YouTube.
"Gangnam Style" reached 1 billion views on Dec.
21, 2012 and set another Guinness World Record as the most viewed video on
YouTube.
The song became the third bestselling single in the world in
2012 with 9.7 million copies sold, according to a report by
theThe International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI).
As of today, "Gangnam Style" has 1.74 billion views on
YouTube and maintained its position as the most viewed video on the site.
Link to my original article on Manila
Bulletin online:
Email me at sangchusan(at)gmail.com
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