▲This photo,shows, Psy during his press conference of his 9th album. (Yonhap)▲This image provided by P-Nation shows "Gangnam Style' YouTube record. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)▲This photo, shows, Psy performing at Dubai (Yonhap)

 

 

SEOUL, July 15 (Yonhap) -- July 15 marks the 10th anniversary of the day South Korean artist Psy dropped “Gangnam Style” which took over the world with its whimsical “Horse Dance”, hard hitting lyrics and addicting melody.

Through American Cable News Network’s article “Gangnam Style' at 10: How Psy's smash hit sent Korean culture global” CNN highlighted the effect “Gangnam Style” has brought to the Korean Culture in general and what he has been up to lately.

“Gangnam Style” which is a title track of artist Psy’s 6th album “Psy6 甲” was dropped exactly 10 years ago today. Ever since the release its comic music video and unique “Horse Dance” the song became a new sensation as it went viral through word of mouth.

With his title track “Gangnam Style”, Psy knocked down the barrier to the Billboard main Singles chart “Hot 100” which to K-pop artists from back then was considered impossible, and took 2nd place on the chart.

Adding on to its list of achievements, the music video of Psy’s “Gangnam Style” surpassed a total view of billion views, as a single video Psy’s music video of “Gangnam Style” was first video on YouTube history to go over a billion views, leading Psy straight to a world star. The music video of Psy’s “Gangnam Style” surpassed over 4.4 billion accumulated views by the beginning of April.

According to the article published by CNN, “The song's impact stretched far beyond the music industry. In fact, the success of "Gangnam Style" is considered a major catalyst in the "Korean wave", or "hallyu", a term describing the recent proliferation of Korean culture internationally.”

Lee Gyu-tag, an associate professor of cultural studies specializing in K-pop and hallyu at George Mason University's South Korean campus shed the light on the importance of “Gangnam Style” by describing “It was "Gangnam Style" that gave Korean pop culture mainstream recognition outside of East Asia.

Moreover, Lee Gyu-tag continued on with his analogy by saying "These kinds of going-viral-on-the-internet media platforms, (such as) YouTube, made K-pop and hallyu really popular and big overseas," adding “These highly successful K-pop acts are following in Psy's footsteps by using shareable video content to reach global audiences.”

"Without the big hit that was 'Gangnam Style,' there may not have been BTS, there may not have been Blackpink," associated professor Lee Gyu-tag firmly announced throughout the interview with CNN.

According to CNN, “BTS has often cited -- and thanked -- Psy for helping globalize K-pop. And the appreciation is mutual in between BTS and Psy”

Throughout the interview Psy expressed his feelings about BTS and applauded BTS by saying "Every single part of me applauds them and is cheering them on. That heavy burden that I felt in 2012 -- BTS has been shouldering that for six or seven years now."

Moreover, Psy spoke about how he felt after his success by stating “As excited and happy as he was during those "Gangnam Style" days, he said that performing and being on the road left him feeling ‘just too overwhelmed’ and a little empty inside." adding "When the song is a hit, then your songs need to continue to be hits," followed by "When the person is a hit, the success is more sustainable. In this case, I'm the former and BTS is the latter."

According to CNN’s publication, psy never successfully replicated his success he had with “Gangnam Style” but he spent his 10 years dropping 3 regular full length albums and worked hard to prove himself to be a musician and dancer. He also started his own label P-Nation to discover and to help out the next generation of South Korean artists.

Also Psy, who has recently released his 9th full length album, is performing at his summer concert “Psy’s Summer Swag” to meet and to communicate with his fans.

"To make fun music, fun dances and bring joy to my fans. That's my hope” adding "I was of the same mind 10 years ago and I think I'll feel the same way 20 years from now as well. I'll always be true to that." Psy gave his answer during the interview with CNN.

 

(This article is translated from Korean to English by Joonha Yoo.)

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