YouTube is blowing up with images of some wild Korean guy in
a suit and sunglasses. The sidebars advertise some guy named Psy and this
interesting dance move called Gangnam Style. What is this madness?
If you haven’t heard about the music video sensation Gangnam
Style, you haven’t lived. It fits right into a common trend of YouTube where
videos spike to popularity and dominate the web. Gangnam Style is a fresh,
catchy music video that is twisted with goofy Korean humor that sustains
throughout the entire world. It obviously has some magic ingredient that has
sparked the web into frenzy.
Released in mid-July of this year, Gangnam Style has gotten
over 415 million views on YouTube and has soared on the charts of countries around
the world. This K-Pop, electro-rap song combines the perfect combination of techo
sounds and humorous interpretation; not to mention the insanely funny
accompanying dance. It doesn’t matter that the lyrics are in Korean because the
humor transfers so well and the cheesy dance itself can be utilized in any song
(in my opinion).
Dancing and humor aside which have shot Gangnam Style and
Korean rapper Psy to worldwide popularity, the music in this song is really
catchy just by itself.
I love this song! While I will analyze the more serious topic
of Internet influence on music later, I want to write about this song first. There
is a driving beat with various electronic/dubstep sounds similar to Skrillex
screeching. While it is mostly composed of electronically produced noises, this
song works for me because that energy is transferred to the listener. The
insane, yet steady, “instrumentals” make up the major counter melody and beat
while Psy takes on the main vocals. Despite lack of variation, I feel satisfied
because of the spices added into the song every once in a while, like a drop
mid-way through the song. The counter melody actually repeats its self over and
over again but the variations in the lyrics also make the song sound fresh and
different after each part. Additionally, this song would seriously be lacking
in my book if it was not accompanied with a music video. The video carries the
entire song for me. It serves a purpose of providing the storyline for the
song; making the Korean lyrics make sense, even though the majority of people
would normally be lost. Because of the story associated with the music along
with the driving counter melody of dubstep sounds, the music sounds epic. Check
it out here:
Another very important aspect of this song is the pure
choreography. In my opinion, this makes the song. Psy is seen in various places
such as a sauna, a party bus, a deserted highway, a horse barn and around the
city doing a very simplistic dance that mimics riding a horse. He starts out
dancing by himself and actors are seen dancing one at a time. For some reason,
Psy does not look awkward doing the dance like so many other people; he
actually looks cool. Then as he is dancing throughout the song, he gains more
and more dancers as new characters are introduced, until he has an entire arena
full of people doing his insanely funny dance. I feel that the dance itself is
the main meat of this music video and is more important to the success of the
song than even the music.
Want to impress your friends? Learn how to do Gangnam Style
with Psy on the Ellen Show:
All humor aside, I’d also like to briefly talk about how I
think YouTube and the Internet has affected our listening habits. In one of my
previous blog posts, I talked about how singles have evolved from album
listening. Building off of this, I think that Gangnam Style provides a good
example of how the Internet is able to drastically impact how we listen to
music. People no longer have to wait days or even weeks to buy the newest album
or song by their favorite artists. As soon as songs are released, the web and
media explode them out to the world. Everybody can instantly listen to songs. I
feel that this is a great way to be exposed to a variety of music. I am no
longer limited to just what is in my CD case at home. I am able to instantly
find a song from a known title, artist, even a major lyric. The rate of which
that YouTube and other online media sources are able to fan out music astounds
me.
Additionally, with the increasing popularity of music videos
on YouTube, I think that the entertainer (not the pure musician) has risen to
higher popularity. People start to care more if an artist is able to entertain,
astound, or surprise them more than their pure musical capabilities, harmonies,
and skill set. While I think that this is problematic on some levels, and
doesn’t give respect to the really talented people in the industry, I also
think that this is refreshing at times. While I highly value artists’ talent in
vocals, instrumentals, and song-writing, when I’m doing average things during
the day, I don’t necessarily care about these things. I just want something I
can dance to and/or laugh at. I think that this is what most people feel too.
They like good, solid music, yet have a vice for something different and bold.
That is definitely what Gangname Style brings to the music industry. While Psy
is not necessarily the best vocalist (I mean he is a rapper) and his song
doesn’t possess skill in instrumental performance, it is catchy and wild.
And that’s all it needs to be.
And that’s all it needs to be.
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