PSY Gangnam Style

Background

"Gangnam Style" is a Korean language colloquialism that refers to a luxurious lifestyle associated with the Gangnam district,^[2] an affluent and trendy area of Seoul.^[3] The music video depicts Psy dancing at various locations in Gangnam.^[4] The song is about "the perfect girlfriend who knows when to be refined and when to get wild."^[5]
A literal translation of "오빤 강남 스타일 (Oppan Gangnam seutail)" is "(I) Oppa Is Gangnam Style". ^[6][7] The Korean word 오빠 (oppa) means "a female's elder brother" but can be also used as a first-, second- or third-person masculine pronoun to designate a male who is elder or older than a female. Based on more recent cultural norms, the term has typically been used to refer to a boyfriend or male spouse. It is used as a first-person pronoun in this phrase. 오빤 (oppan) is an abbreviation of 오빠는 (oppaneun). 는 is a topic marker, which in this case means the implied subject of the sentence is the singer (오빠). The verb "to be" is omitted, as is often the case in such short Korean sentences. Thus the literal translation of "Oppan Gangnam style" is "Your big brother [is] Gangnam Style".
The lyrics are by Psy, music by Psy and Yoo Gun-hyung, and it was arranged by Yoo Gun-hyung, who is a well-known producer in South Korea and also collaborated with Psy in the past.

Music video

The comedian Noh Hong-cheol doing a series of pelvic thrusts while Psy is rapping underneath him

The music video shows PSY dancing a comical horse-riding dance and appearing in unexpected locations around Gangnam such as an outdoor yoga session and a hot tub. The "skewering [of] the Gangnam image" by the "non-Gangnam PSY" is recognizable to Korean viewers, but those less familiar with the cultural context have found the video "fresh" amidst the teen pop idol groups increasingly popular with overseas viewers.^[8]
Making appearances in the music video are:

• 4minute member Hyuna playing PSY's love interest and appearing in the two final dance sequences
• Comedian/television personality, Korea's Nation emcee Yoo Jae-Suk in a dance duel with PSY

Huang Min-woo's dance moves in the beginning of the video

• Comedian/television personality Noh Hong-cheol dancing in an elevator with his trademark pelvis-thrusting with Psy rapping underneath him. It is a particularly well noted scene that has captured the attention of many viewers due to its unusual nature ^[9]
• Big Bang members Seungri and Daesung were also in the music video, appearing as two old men playing chess in the background
• Hwang Min-woo, a 5 year old boy who is seen dancing at the beginning of the video. During an interview with CNN, Psy stated that "the night before the music video shoot, I was watching Korea's Got Talent and saw him dance to Michael Jackson. His moves were ridiculous. So we called him up and asked him to be in the music video, which was shooting the very next day, and he came and it all worked out."^[10] He has been praised for his eye-catching dance moves that has received a lot of attention from viewers.^[11]

About a month after its initial release, on August 17, 2012, Gangnam Style officially won first-place in the Korean music television programme Music Bank^[12] on KBS 2TV, scoring a total of 18,601 points.