Gangnam Style

What does the UN Secretary General, US Navy Robot, Wolverine, and Britney Spears have in common?
They all did the Horse dance moves of The Gangnam Style video by PSY.


So what is this Gangnam Style Music Video and how popular is it?

• Gangnam Style is a K(Korean)-Pop song by the Korean Artist who calls himself Psy, which was released on Youtube in July of this year. The tune, being catchy and the dance moves being unorthodox (inspired by a horse), the video went viral and got world wide attention in the past few months.   
• A few weeks ago, the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said that the Gangnam Style was a force for world peace. 
• Gangnam Style became no.1 at the official UK charts. "This is the first time in the Asian Music History" says Psy.
• 531,984,265 views for the you tube music video.
• Most liked video in the history of Youtube. Around 4,461,862 likes. 
• Gangnam Style is no.2 on the Billboard hot 100.
• Top music video in itunes.
• The first Korean to get such world wide recognition for a music video. 
• There have been so many famous people doing the horse moves too. Ryan Seacrest, Eric Schmidt (of Google), all the good people from The View, Today's Show and many more.
• There are so many variations of this music video including the clones in the Star Wars dancing to its beat, Mitt Romney style, Gandalf style, basket ball version, eye lash moving version, Spanish version, Bhangra version .... to name a few!

So, who is this guy, PSY?

Psy's actual name is Park Jae-Sung and he is 34 years old. He has been making K-pop music videos for 12 years. His first video was called the Psycho World (2001) from which he derives his new  name PSY, which was fined for inappropriate content! He went to Berklee, a music school in the United States and is fluent in English. His favorite actor is Tom Cruise and favorite icecream flavor is mint Choco chip. He goes by his famous motto "Dress Classy, Dance Cheesy"!


So, What is Gangnam and what is its Style?

Gangnam is an affluent district in Seoul which is touted as the Beverly hills of Korea with all the top designer labels from all around the world! Upscale boutiques to dress up classy to high end salons to coif up dandy. And of course, restaurants serving cuisines from every part of the world. Nothing is cheap in Gangnam. Not even coffee :)

Gangnam is Korea's Tech giant with the headquarters of the biggest tech companies in the world established there. Samsung, LG, Hyundai. Samsung D'light in Gangnam is a delightful store encompassing three storeys of electronic haven. Latest 3D TVs and remotes that control the social media, top of the line cellphones which can control the dish washers,  appliances that dry wash and iron the clothes, as per their requirements. Love it yet?

Gangnam is a cultural heavy weight too. The Bonguensa Temple located in Gangnam was founded in 794 AD and now flourishes as a center for Seon (Zen) Buddhism.

Gangnam also houses the Asia's largest underground mall, the COEX mall (managed by the Hyundai departmental store), which houses an aquarium, gaming arcade consisting of atleast a 100 latest games and gaming devices, a multiplex movie theater and even a Kimchi Museum! Impressed yet?

To take the cake, Gangnam, which encompasses a mere 15 square miles holds 7% of South Korea's GDP.
Gangnam's got Style, uh?



Gangnam Style by CHARLI-2 Robot of the US Navy
Gangnam Style Infographic by Mashable
Gangnam Style English Lyrics