Gangnam Style has haunted its creator for the last 10 years
Claire Reid
Featured Image Credit: Sipa US / Alamy Stock Photo / YG Entertainment
Cast your mind back 10-years and you may remember that it was pretty much impossible to go a whole day without hearing Psy’s Gangnam Style.
Psy’s monster of a hit flew up the charts in more than 30 countries - earning itself second place on Billboard Hot 100 in the US and making number in the UK, Australia, Canada and numerous other countries - as well as gaining a Guinness World Record for the first video on YouTube to hit one billion views and earning its Best Video at the MTV Europe Music Awards.
The song was parodied to within an inch of its life and was even brought up in front of world leaders, such as then-POTUS Barrack Obama and former UK Prime Minister David Cameron.
Psy, and the song, were also credited with helping to bring K-Pop to the Western world, no mean feat.
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However, in a recent interview its creator Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, has revealed that its phenomenal success would go on to haunt him.
In the aftermath of his mind-boggling fame, Psy says he felt intense pressure from himself to have another successful hit.
During an interview with the New York Times, Psy said during that period he would constantly tell himself: “Let’s make just one more.”
But as anyone who has attempted to chase viral fame will tell you - it doesn’t quite work like that.
After trying to make a go of it Los Angeles, Psy is now back in South Korea and has set up his own music label and management company - hoping to create the next big K-Pop sensation.
Psy, who has almost a dozen acts signed up to his Seoul-based label, says he feels a renewed pressure to ensure that those he represents have good careers.
And while he may have years of experience under his belt, when it comes to identifying the magic ingredient that made Gagnam Style so popular, he’s as flummoxed as anyone.
He told the publication: “The songs are written by the same person, the dance moves are by the same person and they’re performed by the same person. Everything’s the same, but what was so special about that one song? I still don’t know, to this day.”
But a decade on from the hit, Psy has a more chilled view about his place within the music industry.
“If another good song comes along and if that thing happens again, great. If not, so be it,” he said.
“For now, I’ll do what I do in my rightful place.”