Gangnam Style

"Gangnam Style" (Korean: 강남스타일, IPA: [kaŋnam sʰɯtʰail]) is the 18th K-pop single by the South Korean musician Psy. The song was released on July 15, 2012, as the lead single of his sixth studio album Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1, and debuted at number one on South Korea's Gaon Chart. On December 21, 2012, "Gangnam Style" became the first YouTube video to reach one billion views. The song's music video has been viewed over 2.51 billion times on YouTube, and has been YouTube's most watched video since November 24, 2012, when it surpassed the music video for "Baby" by Justin Bieber.

The phrase "Gangnam Style" is a Korean neologism that refers to a lifestyle associated with the Gangnam District of Seoul. The song and its accompanying music video went viral in August 2012 and have influenced popular culture worldwide since then. "Gangnam Style" received mixed to positive reviews, with praise going to its catchy beat and Psy's amusing dance moves (which themselves have become a phenomenon) in the music video and during live performances in various locations around the world. In September 2012, "Gangnam Style" was recognized by Guinness World Records as the most "liked" video on YouTube. It subsequently won Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards held later that year. It became a source of parodies and reaction videos by many different individuals, groups and organizations.

Gangnam Style (music video)

The music video of Gangnam Style by recording artist Psy, was directed by Cho Soo-hyun. The music video was filmed in Seoul for 48 straight hours. The video was premiered on July 15, 2012 and was later made available to download digitally on October 19. In the music video Psy "pokes fun at the style of Seoul's Gangnam-gu, a flashy district with high rents, high expectations and a focus on the high-status lifestyle". In December 2012, the music video hit 1 billion views in the video-sharing website YouTube (becoming the most viewed video of all time) and in June 2014 the video gained 2 billion views. As of January 2016, the video has over 2.51 billion views on YouTube, well exceeding the previous limit of a 32-bit view count of 2,147,483,647 which had to be updated to a 64-bit view count in December 2014 solely due to this video's popularity.

Production

The music video is directed by Cho Soo-hyun, who also directed the music video for Psy's follow-up single "Gentleman" and the music video for "This Love" by Shinhwa. It shows Psy performing a comical horse-riding dance and appearing in unexpected locations around the Gangnam District, such as an outdoor yoga session and a hot tub. He wears several distinctive suits and black sunglasses with a mindset of "dress classy and dance cheesy". It features a "skewering [of] the Gangnam image" by the "non-Gangnam Psy"; this parody would be recognizable to viewers familiar with Korean culture. Although there are more than ten different locations featured, only two of the scenes are actually filmed in the Gangnam district. The sauna scene, elevator scene and bathroom scene were filmed elsewhere in the greater Seoul region, and some shots were filmed in World Trade Center Seoul and the Songdo International Business District, which includes Songdo Central Park and International Business District Station. The video was shot over 48 hours in July 2012.