If you haven’t heard “Gangnam Style” yet, you’re out of the loop. This song by South Korean rapper, Psy, has become an internet sensation with over 530 million views on YouTube, making it the third most watched video on the site. But what is “Gangnam Style” exactly?
Other than being the latest dance craze, it actually refers to the lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district in Seoul where residents are classy, trendy, and all around hip. “People who are actually from Gangnam never proclaim that they are—it’s only the posers and wannabes that put on these airs and say that they are ‘Gangnam Style’—so this song is actually poking fun at those kinds of people who are trying so hard to be something that they’re not,” said Psy in a recent interview.
The song’s popular phrase, “Oppan Gangnam Style” actually translates to “big brother is Gangnam Style.” Psy is referring to himself as “big brother” as “oppa” is a Korean expression used by females to refer to an older male friend or older brother. To create the popular dance, Psy stayed up late for 30 nights trying to perfect it by studying different cheesy animal movements before settling with the horse trot.
When uploaded to YouTube, it received half a million views on just the first day. It has gone completely viral and is now a comical Internet meme. Many celebrities and politicians have even found themselves doing it such as Cody Simpson, Kevin Hart, and British Prime Minister David Cameron. On The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Psy even taught Britney Spears how to do the dance.
Watch the video created by some of the Crimson J writers to learn the dance yourself!