[danso]

It's really refreshing to see something reach this kind of blockbuster status and not be from America, or Western Europe.

Not because I'm anti-American, but because this is the kind of experience non-Westerners must get everytime a Lady GaGa/Baywatch/Hollywood Movie dominates their cultural airwaves...whether or not they actually like it, they only still have a vague understanding of what the thing means, and its origins and backstory. It's nice being on the outside looking in...which is something you'd expect to happen more often given the demographic of the world.

[jusben1369]

It's refreshing. I'm not really sure if it's just a blip though. It seems like every few years there is this "Not US/West European" phenom that rises fast and disappears. Macarena anyone? 99 Red Balloons? There must be a couple more I'm missing?

EDIT: 99 Red Balloons is in fact Western Europe but was in German for more than a year (and widely successful) before being released in English. An oddity. Should have said "Non English" as more accurate than just Western Europe.

[Aticus_Finch]

Macarena is a spanish song (http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_Del_Rio) and 99 Red Ballons is german. How is this Not West European?

[maigret]

99 Luftballons is German, so... West European much. And South American music has been integrated in western culture for a long time already. South Korean not much.

[rcavezza]

I don't think this demerits your comment, but it should be known that Psy went to school at Boston University and Berklee College of Music (both in Boston, USA).

[Surio]

Even I don't think this demerits your comment but the Gangnam video doesn't have anything on it that carries a stamp of any of those you mentioned. It is asiatic+uninhibited+spontaneous and in a very non-American way too.

[chubot]

Really? To me it seems to be more American than anything else. There are guys dancing and pretty girls and special effects. That seems pretty much like an outgrowth of MTV culture, rap videos, etc. which are of American origin. I'll grant it has a unique sense of humor.

[eshvk]

> Really? To me it seems to be more American than anything else. There are guys dancing and pretty girls and special effects. That seems pretty much like an outgrowth of MTV culture, rap videos, etc. which are of American origin. I'll grant it has a unique sense of humor.

I would like to differ. People dancing, pretty girls as eye candy is a universal trend that definitely didn't start out of the MTV generation. See for e.g. Bollywood movies.

[potatolicious]

Dancing and pretty girls are uniquely American now?

[chimeracoder]

> To me it seems to be more American than anything else.

Actually, my understanding is that the lyrics are a parody of the Gangnam district of Seoul, and how the rich people there try to act as if they're American, not Korean.

If anything, it's a parody/rejection of Western culture.

[arrogant]

Except PSY himself rejects that explanation: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/120oqd/i_am_south_kore...

[Surio]

I remember reading elsewhere that he accepted that explanation (right in the beginning when the video went viral first) as well. He was recently signed up for some record deal by the man that talent spotted Justin Bieber. Perhaps there was a diktat/mandate from those circles as to to not antagonise the "prospective audience" for his music anymore.

Jackie Chan had similar problems when he made the crossover to Hollywood (Source: his autobiography and Wikipedia entries). So, I won't be surprised if PSY was made to temper his views lately to avoid unnecessary controversy to his new paymasters.

[Surio]

Exactly. This was discussed on many talk shows as well and that was the consensus arrived at regarding the message of the video.

I was really trying to find the links to this, but couldn't.

[Surio]

"unique sense of humor."

I think the appropriate word you're looking for (or rather, to be used instead) is "satire". And that completely changes how you view the whole thing.

[brandall10]

I really am not into this kind of stuff (so just coming in as a casual observer/non-fan) but Psy seems to occupy the same genre, marketing/presentation as LMFAO, no? Not that that's uniquely American - I wouldn't know - I just see both of these artists and don't get a vibe of artistic cultural separation.

[001sky]

It is asiatic+uninhibited+spontaneous and in a very non-American way too.

-- Techno. Detroit. Via London, Berlin, etc. Its just pop.

[Surio]

Just to clarify, I was talking about the video there.

[Surio]

Sorry about this, and I am probably flogging a dead horse, but I am just getting the details right here, that's all. :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v...

Per his own admission, he didn't attend both Boston and Berklee, but switched from Boston to Berklee, he barely attended class and did not finish college (see video above), and he did not answer to the question, "Did you major in music?".

[Evbn]

When he was skipping class, he wasn't flying back to Korea. He obviously had a lot of cultural exposure to the US.

[Surio]

> He obviously had a lot of cultural exposure to the US

Which he has promptly gone on to satirise in the gangnam video. Oh the irony. ;-)

[TorKlingberg]

People everywhere grow up with western pop culture, so it's not strange and foreign the way PSY is to Americans. It can get a little strange though, when pop culture and fashion travels across the world but the social context behind it is lost on the way.

[amcaskill]

NPR did a podcast on exactly that.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/10/12/162740623/gangnam-...

[mkr-hn]

Relevant: http://business.time.com/2012/09/24/the-wholesome-hidden-mes...

There's a lot embedded in Gangnam Style.