Psy hoping for another stylish hit
Source: Agencies |
April 12, 2013, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
SOUTH Korean rapper Psy released his much-anticipated new single yesterday hoping to repeat the success of "Gangnam Style," the song that made him the biggest star to emerge from the growing K-pop music scene.
The video for "Gangnam Style" has become the most watched item on YouTube with more than 1.5 billion hits and his horse-riding moves sparked an international dance craze.
His latest single, "Gentleman," with a techno beat, is full of puns in Korean and contains the lines "I am a party mafia!" and the refrain, "I am a mother father gentleman."
Psy, 35, will perform "Gentleman" in public for the first time on Saturday at a concert at Seoul's World Cup stadium but he has been coy about what dance to expect this time, except to hint that it is based on traditional Korean moves.
"All Koreans know this dance but other countries haven't seen it," he told South Korean television last week.
He has asked fans to wear white to Saturday's event and his stylist said last month that the concept for the new song would again be a formal suit with "an unexpected twist of fun."
In "Gangnam Style," written as a commentary on materialism in the wealthy Seoul suburb of Gangnam, Psy was decked out in sunglasses, a white dress shirt, bow tie and tuxedo jackets.
The song racked up 3.59 million digital sales last year in the United States and Canada, according to Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen BDS
"Gangnam Style" catapulted Psy to global fame after an rocky career in the music business over the past decade.
Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, graduated from the Berklee College of Music in the US and made his debut in 2001 with the album "PSY from the Psycho World."
But he ran into trouble with the authorities for "inappropriate" content in the lead song on that album, which was seen as sexually suggestive. He was also charged with possession of marijuana in 2002.
Since then he has released five more albums.
Psy's brash style - at a concert last year he parodied Lady Gaga, complete with fake breasts that he set on fire - stands in stark contrast to the squeaky clean singers that dominate K-pop.
Psy acknowledged last month that the stress of following up Gangnam was taking its toll. He tweeted a picture of himself covering his face at a recording studio, with the caption: "The pain of creation."
The video for "Gangnam Style" has become the most watched item on YouTube with more than 1.5 billion hits and his horse-riding moves sparked an international dance craze.
His latest single, "Gentleman," with a techno beat, is full of puns in Korean and contains the lines "I am a party mafia!" and the refrain, "I am a mother father gentleman."
Psy, 35, will perform "Gentleman" in public for the first time on Saturday at a concert at Seoul's World Cup stadium but he has been coy about what dance to expect this time, except to hint that it is based on traditional Korean moves.
"All Koreans know this dance but other countries haven't seen it," he told South Korean television last week.
He has asked fans to wear white to Saturday's event and his stylist said last month that the concept for the new song would again be a formal suit with "an unexpected twist of fun."
In "Gangnam Style," written as a commentary on materialism in the wealthy Seoul suburb of Gangnam, Psy was decked out in sunglasses, a white dress shirt, bow tie and tuxedo jackets.
The song racked up 3.59 million digital sales last year in the United States and Canada, according to Nielsen SoundScan and Nielsen BDS
"Gangnam Style" catapulted Psy to global fame after an rocky career in the music business over the past decade.
Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, graduated from the Berklee College of Music in the US and made his debut in 2001 with the album "PSY from the Psycho World."
But he ran into trouble with the authorities for "inappropriate" content in the lead song on that album, which was seen as sexually suggestive. He was also charged with possession of marijuana in 2002.
Since then he has released five more albums.
Psy's brash style - at a concert last year he parodied Lady Gaga, complete with fake breasts that he set on fire - stands in stark contrast to the squeaky clean singers that dominate K-pop.
Psy acknowledged last month that the stress of following up Gangnam was taking its toll. He tweeted a picture of himself covering his face at a recording studio, with the caption: "The pain of creation."
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
