HONG KONG — “Gangnam Style,” the surprise hit by the South Korean rapper Psy, has now been viewed on YouTube more than 805 million times, making it the channel’s most-watched video of all time, according to a post on YouTube’s Trends blog.
After first appearing on YouTube in July, “Gangnam Style” has now overtaken the previous leader, Justin Bieber’s “Baby,” which was originally uploaded in February 2010. YouTube’s list of its most-watched videos is here.
“Psy’s official channel now has over 1 billion views, a considerable number,” the Trends post said. “Views on Bieber’s Vevo channel alone, however, still total over 3 billion.”
My New York Times colleague Melena Ryzik interviewed Psy last month, and she wrote that “after posting compliments on Twitter about the song, Justin Bieber’s manager, Scooter Braun, signed Psy, and an English-language track may be their first collaboration.”
Psy’s real name is Park Jae-sang, and Rendezvous wrote about him last month:
He is 34, the father of twin girls, and was born in Seoul, in the upscale Gangnam district. He attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston and released his first album of hip-hop songs in 2001. He has been something of a midlevel star until this summer’s breakout hit, and he’s hardly one of the hard-bodied, highly produced clones who populate the K-pop universe.
Psy’s horsey dance on “Gangnam Style” has inspired countless imitations, from Thai naval officers and Filipino prisoners to West Point cadets and an array of college and high school marching bands in the United States. A Times selection of some of the versions is here.
An excerpt from Melena’s interview with Psy:
Q.
What kind of music did you listen to growing up?
A.
My lifetime role model and hero is Freddie Mercury of Queen. His songwriting skills, I cannot even approach, but his showmanship, I learned it from videos. I’m No. 1 in the U.K. right now, so if I have any chance to go there, I want to meet Queen and to tell them how much I got inspired by their music. Queen and Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and Guns N’ Roses — I had a huge rock-band mania. I play a little bit of drums.
Q.
How did you transition from that to your sound?
A.
I tried to compose a song — I was in the United States and it was all about hip-hop at the time, ’99-2000. I got inspiration from that kind of music: Tupac, Notorious B.I.G., Dr. Dre, Eminem, Snoop Dogg. But my spirit and my agenda is play — it’s a mixture right now, I’m doing rockable dance, or danceable rock.
Q.
What do you do when you’re not performing?
A.
I’m drinking. It’s my biggest hobby.
IHT Rendezvous: 'Gangnam Style' Becomes Most-Watched Video Ever on YouTube — 805 Million Views
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IHT Rendezvous: 'Gangnam Style' Becomes Most-Watched Video Ever on YouTube — 805 Million Views
