It’s a ‘PSY’ World. Korean singer ‘PSY’ has been having a smooth sailing through the world after he produced his sixth album (싸이 6甲) on July 15, 2012. One of the reasons to his success was his music video of his title song “Gangnam Style,” which made people laugh with his comical moves and actions.
Since the music video was updated on YouTube, it has accumulated over 500 million views as of Oct. 20, 2012, receiving the most ‘likes’ on YouTube. Because of his potential, pop star Justin Bieber’s company ‘Universal Republic Records’ signed a contract with PSY to help his performances throughout the world. As a result, he managed to appear on “Saturday Night Live,” “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” “Live Show,” “MTV Video Music Awards,” and etc., all very popular shows in the U.S.
Although several Korean singers like ‘Wonder Girls’ have been able to rank their songs on the Billboard Chart, PSY was the first Korean artist who made it to the top 10 on the Chart, while also becoming the first Korean artist to rank number one on the iTunes song and music video chart and the U.K. chart. Currently, as of the week of Oct. 13, 2012, his song has been in second place on the Billboard Chart for four weeks, raising further expectations to rise to first place.
Before “Gangnam Style” was produced, PSY was only a decent artist who was evaluated as “a singer who can show a good performance.” Making his debut in 2001, he sang hit songs like “Bird,” “Champion,” “Celebrity” and “Right Now,” a song which PSY is considering as his second single in the U.S. But PSY had many hardships since his debut. Due to his poor performance as a public service worker in place of compulsory military service, he had to join the army again, while also causing trouble by smoking marijuana. After a life full of ups and downs, PSY is finally enjoying success with his songs. Since this phenomenon is the first in Korea, many people are very surprised at what’s happening right now. However, all of these happenings are all due to PSY’s endless efforts.
