PSY’s famous song “Gangnam Style”, which was released back on July 15th, 2012, was a global sensation
On July 15th (local time), American media site CNN mentioned “Gangnam Style”, which was released on the same day 10 years ago, and hailed PSY for “giving Korean pop culture mainstream recognition outside of East Asia.”
A decade ago, “Gangnam Style” gained huge recognition with its humorous “horse dance” choreography, catchy lyrics, and exciting rhythms.
At that time, “Gangnam Style” set a significant record, ranking 2nd on the US Billboard’s main single chart “Billboard Hot 100”, although it was mostly written with Korean lyrics.
Due to the song’s explosive influence, many people from all corners of the world covered the song and choreography, leading to rising interest in Kpop.
According to CNN, “Gangnam style” had a positive effect on the music industry, saying: “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 Kyu Tak, a Kpop expert and associate professor of cultural studies specializing in K-pop and hallyu at George Mason University’s South Korean campus, also praised PSY’s achievement through CNN.
“These kinds of going-viral-on-the-internet media platforms, such as YouTube, made K-pop and hallyu really popular and big overseas,” he said, adding, “Without the big hit that was ‘Gangnam Style,’ there may not have been BTS, there may not have been Blackpink”.
In fact, BTS themselves often mention PSY in public and thank him for his efforts to globalize Kpop.
Source: insight
