If you haven't heard this song yet you must be living on a different planet because this KPOP song is blowing up in a big way. PSY's Gangnam Style has almost 300 million views on youtube, has set the record for most likes on the video sharing site and is basically everywhere! There are parodies all over the internet and there are millions of gifs, covers, and other internet funnies to keep the slightly obsessed (like myself) satisfied.  At random Thai bars in the middle of nowhere, everyone knows the song. The taxi man hums along as it plays on the radio. The Korean singer was at the VMA's, hangs out with PDiddy and is going on a US tour.  Yeah, its kinda hard to ignore KPOP now...


This song is so fantastic for many reasons... Obviously, I lived in Korea so I enjoy many of the subtle jokes and scenes, and its pretty relatable considering it is mostly in Hangul. I admittedly like shitty music as well, and the big song while I lived in Korea was Itaewon Freedom, another amazingly weird video about a district in Seoul. I also think its really fun to explain to people its not pronounced condom...

Gangnam is an area in Seoul I am very familiar with, it was the closest going out area to me and I spent many nights eating pretzals and smoking hookah at my favorite bars there, Rainbow and Woodstock, both of which are not a good exemplification of area (god, I miss both of those places so much.) In fact my first ever trip on the subway was to do some shopping in the amazing underground shopping mecca, as the Gangnam area is sometimes called the 'Beverly Hills' of Seoul. Koreans go to Gangnam to be seen, whether at a coffee shop or hip new dance spot, its all about looking good here. That made it all the better when I went there and didn't give a shit because I am a huge foreigner and I look crazy to them either way. Anyway, even with all the bad press as of late and bad reputation, I thought the area was very fun and I have many fond memories of 'Gangnam style'.

Korean society is known for its superficial tendencies, and Gangnam style basically makes fun of it all. Most fans have no idea what the words are and they are kinda silly but there is actually a deeper meaning to this ridiculous song which bring these superficial issues to light in a humorous way... I have a feeling many Koreans are not finding it too funny, although at least they are not shooting each other up like the heathens in... oh, shit... Thailand.

Also, it's just an amazing, bizarre over the top 4 minutes of good beats and is SO fun to dance to when it comes on at the club. And who could not love this little kid??

PSY smoking in the background.. classy mofo.

I just know that the Korean pop industry must be so pissed right now, as they have hundreds of perfectly primped and trained KPOP stars with all kinds of catchy tunes in their arsenal ready to hit it big. Yet this old, kinda chubby, not attractive by Korean standards but oh so dapper and fresh guy who has been around for a while with not a ton of success, is all of the sudden an international star. He has been arrested for weed in South Korea and skipped out on the required military service in the country, not the best poster boy for a culture that is notoriously conservative. PSY is a legitimate badass.


I have always known Kpop would be big one day but I am really happy that this song is the first to cross the pond. All those beautiful boy bands (I still love you Big Bang) be damned! This oddly sexy suit wearing guy became a superstar by poking a little fun at his own kind... Korea is coming up in the world, maybe they will finally be able to relax and laugh at themselves a little.