Before BTS, a legend introduced K-Pop to World in 2012.
Korean pop singer Park Jae Sung, better known by his stage name PSY is the man behind the breakthrough music "Gangnam Style," which, as of writing, has 4.4 billion hits in Youtube.
The Story Behind 'Gangnam Style'
The song "Gangnam Style" was written, produced, and recorded as the lead single of PSY 6 (Six Rules). Known for his quick-witted sense of humor and comical dance moves, singer and rapper PSY immediately captured the attention of viewers not only from South Korea but from all over the world.
"Gangnam Style" was released on July 15th, 2012 together with the music video through PSY's official YouTube channel. Since then, there have been numerous versions and parodies of the song that sprouted in the video sharing platform.
Immediately after its release, the song took off on virtually all Korean billboard charts, portal search sites and online music stores. "Gangnam Style", however, began garnering international attention when the music video went viral on YouTube during the third week of July 2012, according to Know Your Meme website.
"Gangnam Style" music video earned the title ''viral video'' within days after its release. Eventually, it received intensive coverage from various English-language music blogs and K-POP news sites. as well as other regional Asian news sites.
At an average rate of more than nine million views per day in the span of two months, the music video continued gaining viral attention. It eventually surpassed Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe" and reached the number one position on the YouTube Top 100 Music Videos chart during the last week of August 2012.
By mid-September 2012, PSY's "Gangnam Style" overtook LMFAO's "Party Rock Anthem" as the most liked video on the site with more than 1.6 million likes, as per Know Your Meme website.
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Unveiling the Meaning of the Lyrics and the Horse Dance Move
The song is about a self-proclaimed hotshot looking for "the perfect girlfriend who knows when to be refined and when to get wild." "Oppan Gangnam Style," can be translated as "Your Boy's Gangnam Style" with PSY referring to himself.
The unexpected popularity of the song has led to more in-depth analysis of its lyrics in the news media. There was even a widespread assertion that the song is a satire about South Koreans' materialist obsession with Seoul's Gangnam district, a symbol of opulence and socioeconomic status, according to Know Your Meme website.
But aside from the lyrics, the "the horse-riding dance" is the mass appeal of the music video. The dance move combines the stylistic elements of shuffle dancing and hand movements resembling the posture of a horseback rider.
According to Know Your Meme website, there have been speculations in Korean Internet communities that the dance may have been pioneered a year earlier by a Korean pop group Girls' Day in their 2011 debut single Tilting Head. But during interviews, PSY revealed that he came up with the "the horse-riding dance" during a talent contest at a post-concert event in August 2011.
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