Kpop: Gangnam Style

Yes, the now oh-so famous "Gangnam Style." I'm not going to talk about the lyrics or the meaning of this song, nor who Psy is, because you can find that out on the internet. This is solely my opinion of the song, which is: I have a love-hate relationship with it. Allow me to explain.

The LOVE:

This song is awesome. One of my favorite Psy songs evar. The beat is really cool, the dance is funny, the rapping sounds fun, and it's super upbeat. I must admit, I was a little uncomfortable with this part:

Does this make YOU comfortable? If so, that's just not right.

But overall, I thought it was hilarious and fun. TRIVIA FACT: Did you know that the two old guys playing chess are actually Seungri and Daesung from Big Bang? I thought they were suspiciously agile for their old age. There are actually a ton of different cameos in this video, if you look closely. Most of them are in disguise unfortunately.......

The truth revealed!

But I digress. The point is this: I watched all the teaser videos for "Gangnam Style," I listened to the track before the video was released, and I watched the video within hours of its released. I was very pleased with it as a whole, and showed it to my family so they could enjoy it too. I thought to myself: "Yes, another awesome Psy song! I've been waiting for another one of these! I hope that this will get voted in for Eat Your Kimchi's Kpop Music Monday. Must get voting...." (It got voted in, by the way.) And that was as far as I thought it would go.


HAHAHAHAHAHA120millionviewsatthetimethisarticlewaswrittenomg900millionviewsHAHAHAHAHA.

The Hate:

On the one hand, I'm glad that Psy is getting all this attention that has really shot his career forward. He's awesome and deserves this love for his wonderful videos and amazing music.

But, and I'm going to pull out my dirty hipster here, I'm not sure I want Psy to be popular. At least, not THIS popular. And no, not just because I want to be the only one that knows about kpop. Whenever I hear about kpop being recognized internationally I'm glad, honestly. (It means an increased likelihood of concerts closer to where I live!) But this is not the same.

You see, Psy has gone viral. A term that I tend to associate with things that are pretty funny that by some stroke of luck became really popular. Not that I'm saying "Gangnam Style"'s popularity is due solely to luck, (it's mostly due to great quality and humor), but luck does have something to do with it. And I'm afraid that people aren't going to think of Psy as a really funny artist with great music from Korea, but as "that goofy Asian guy that did the horse dance." Do you see what I'm saying? YOU KNOW WHAT I'M SAYIN'?! (Sorry, couldn't resist.) They're not going to value Psy as a talented artist, but as a meme. Psy deserves better! Also, people that only know Psy for "Gangnam Style" don't know the awesomeness of his other videos. I actually like "Right Now" even better than "Gangnam Style." BUT NOBODY KNOWS ABOUT "RIGHT NOW!" And by "nobody" I mean that it has 310 million views, which seems like a lot, but is actually less than 31% of the views that "Gangnam Style" has.

Also, even though Psy is spreading the news about kpop, Psy's image isn't really "kpop" in the traditional sense. True, other artists are now getting more exposure, but when people hear the word "kpop," will they think of this?

Hello there, BEAST.

Or this?

Hello there, PSY.

I'm not saying that either one is better than the other what am I saying BEAST I LOVE YOU but that's not my point, but just that Psy does not portray the typical image of "kpop." Being young and attractive does not make you a better musician, but it is typical of most kpop stars.

Can you spot the odd one out?

Also, the thing about viral videos is that they're one-hit wonders. If you're lucky, you can squeak a sequel in, but it's never as good as the first because people by that point are just trying to coast on their fame and make their video as similar to the original as possible. I'm afraid that after "Gangnam Style" Psy (or if not him, then Justin Bieber's company or YG) will try to pattern future videos after that video because it was such a success, and Psy will lose a little of what makes him so great. I like the videos that Psy makes, and I don' t want them to change!

Never change!

It's possible that Psy will remain true to his original style, but it seems unlikely. I can already see him going down a bad path... Alas. But, to end on a positive note, I am glad that Korean music is getting some recognition. Agreeing with Simon and Martina, I don't really consider "Gangnam Style" to be part of the "hallyu wave." However, maybe this will make people more receptive to Korean music. I can only hope. :)

tl;dr? Psy is a great artist and "Gangnam Style" is a great video/song, but I'm afraid what the results of its unprecedented popularity will mean.