Gangnam Style

Story of Song

South of the river! That’s what “Gangnam” literally means, referring to the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of a small area in Seoul, South Korea. The song is about the elite “new money” culture and lifestyle that has emerged in recent years. “Oppan Gangnam Style” literally means “Older Brother has Gangnam Style”; Older Brother is a common phrase in South Korea that means boyfriend or close friend.

Release date

Released July 15, 2012

Songwriter/s

Park Jae-Sang – Yoo Gun-hyung

Label

YG  – Universal Republic – School Boy

Chart Rankings

In South Korea, this worldwide smash hit peaked at number 1 for five consecutive weeks, becoming the best-selling song of 2012 with over 3.842.000 download sales. It is the first YouTube video ever to reach 1 billion views. The video was recognized by the Guinness World Records as the ‘Most Liked Video’ in YouTube history, with over 2.2 million likes. In the US, the smash hit single peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in its second week and stayed in that position for 7 consecutive weeks. It also peaked at number 1 on the US Digital Songs Chart, US Hot Rap Songs and peaked at number 3 on the US Dance Club Songs. In the UK, ‘Gangnam Style’ topped the UK Singles Chart, becoming the first Korean single to ever do so. Its success didn’t stop there; the song became the 13th most downloaded single of all time in the UK, selling over 1 million copies.

The song peaked at number 1 in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Honduras, Italy, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Russia, Scotland, South Korea, Spain and Switzerland.

‘Gangnam Style’ was certified 10 times Platinum in Australia, Quadruple Platinum in Canada, New Zealand and Sweden, triple Platinum in Switzerland, Double Platinum in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Italy, and Platinum in Spain. In Finland and Germany, it was certified Gold.

The song won several international awards, including Best Video (MTV Europe Music Awards) in Germany, Best Video and Song of the Year (Mnet Asian Music Awards) in South Korea, Internet Viral of the Year (Capricho Awards) in Brazil, Favorite Music Video (People’s Choice Awards) in the US, International Song of the Year and Music Video of the Year (NRJ Music Awards) in France. Additionally, it was nominated for the Best Dancefloor Anthem (NME Awards) in the UK, World’s best video (World Music Awards) in Monaco and many more around the world.

Artist’s age on release date

Psy was 35 years old when he achieved this massive success.

Cover Versions

Pentatonix – Jayesslee – MattyBRaps featuring Cimorelli – Steph Micayle – Ra-On – Leo Moracchioli (Metal) – Sungha Jung (acoustic) – Other amateur artists covered this song on Youtube.