‘Gangnam Style:’ Psy’s song continues to change music a decade later

• Psy’s single “Gangnam Style” turned 10 on July 15. It was released in 2012.
• The landmark song and music video set records on YouTube, being the first to reach 1 billion views.
• Psy also helped open the door for K-pop music internationally and outside of Asia.

In April this year, Psy killed “Gangnam Style”.

Well, at least, figuratively. the music video for the singer’s latest single, “That That (prod. and feat. Suga of BTS)” saw BTS band member Suga slap a version of Psy dressed in a blue suit, obviously recalling his 2012 music video for “Gangnam Style.” Later, Suga cradles old Psy on the hood of a car as a stream of blood drips from the now 44-year-old artist’s mouth.

The 10th anniversary of “Gangnam Style” was on July 15. In 2012, Psy, a well-known artist in South Korea before becoming a global icon, reached unprecedented heights with a satirical song about Seoul’s Gangnam district and a “horse dance” that was copied around the world. .

A decade later, the song’s influence is still felt. “Gangnam Style” was a crucial step in the worldwide success of K-pop, while the music video set precedents for YouTube records.

“Being the first artist to reach a billion views on YouTube was an extraordinary sensation 10 years ago and it still is today.” Psy told YouTube Music on the anniversary of the video. “Having played a role in paving the way for music of all kinds to transcend borders is truly an honor.”

‘Gangnam Style’ was the first video to reach 1 billion views on YouTube

The music video for “Gangnam Style” was released on YouTube on July 15, 2012. 159 days later, the video reached 1 billion views, according to YouTube data.

Today, its total views stand at 4.4 billion.

Kevin Meenan, manager of music trends at YouTube, told Insider that “Gangnam Style’s” “international appeal” was a big part of its virality. At the time, the video’s success was unprecedented: At that point in 2012, only two other music videos on YouTube had surpassed 500 million views, Meenan said. YouTube even had to “update” when the number of views of the music video exceeded the limits of the platform’s view counter. Previously informed insider.

Readers would do well to remember that it was a completely different streaming world. YouTube views did not chart on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart until February 2013. These days, milestones like a billion views or 24-hour debut albums are coveted among music artists and fan bases, who arrange to stream music videos on YouTube.

the “billion hit club” — as YouTube refers to the collection of videos that have reached the milestone — has now expanded as well, with artists like J Balvin, Rihanna and Blackpink among its ranks (as well as nursery rhymes like “Baby Shark”).

‘Gangnam Style’ lent itself to participation, which was crucial to its international success.

When “Gangnam Style” went viral, people didn’t just watch the video. They parodied it, turned his choreography into a dance madnessand created content around it.

“From the very beginning, they really had this idea of ​​turning ‘Gangnam Style’ into a highly participatory viral sensation, and we can see that even in the dance choreography,” CedarBough Saeji, Assistant Professor of Korean and East Asian Studies at Pusan National. University, he told Insider.

Saeji told Insider that part of the success of “Gangnam Style” was related to the fact that Psy, nor his company YG Entertainment (He is now under his own label, P-Nation), did not challenge the ways international audiences interacted with the track.

“He invited people to have fun with the music,” Saeji told Insider. “He didn’t slap them in the face with copyright notices, he didn’t try to police the ways people in foreign countries performed music.”

The “Gangnam Style” engagement set a precedent for other viral moments like the “Harlem Shake” in 2013, Meenan said. These days, K-pop dances regularly go viral on TikTok as well, with artists and companies promoting their choreographies as challenges.

‘Gangnam Style’ helped open the door for Korean pop music outside of Asia

In the decade since “Gangnam Style”, other Korean artists, particularly idol groups, have found global audiences, with some like BTS surpassing chart milestones that Psy himself set. psi said in a backstage interview for “That That” that BTS have done [his] wish come true” by reaching number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

“With ‘Gangnam Style’ he paved the way for K-pop in the United States, we were able to follow in his footsteps with ease,” BTS member Suga, whose real name is Min Yoon-gi, said in the same interview.

Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for the Recording Academy

Sun Lee, Director of Music Associations (Korea & Greater China) and APAC Artist Relations at YouTube, told Insider that “Gangnam Style” changed the way K-pop artists thought about their core audiences and the types of music that international audiences wanted. consume.

“Before ‘Gangnam Style,’ when K-pop artists wanted to break into the US music market, they tried to localize their sound in that market, working with US producers and staff, and sometimes even moving to the US,” Lee told Insider. “However, after ‘Gangnam Style’ broke, K-pop artists realized that their music could work overseas and looked for ways to elevate their music while maintaining their own unique and distinctive style.”

Ultimately, “Gangnam Style” represented a breakthrough, introducing K-pop to an incredibly large global audience, from its rich visual world to the ways audiences could engage.

“If what they liked about ‘Gangnam Style’ was making fun of Psy, then maybe they didn’t continue to consume K-pop,” Saeji told Insider. “But if what they liked about ‘Gangnam Style’ was the attention to visuality and the invitation to be part of a different cultural world, then maybe they followed ‘Gangnam Style’.”