Park Jae-sang (Hangul: 박재상; born December 31, 1977) is a South Korean singer-songwriter, rapper, and record producer. He goes by the stage name, Psy (Hangul: 싸이, often stylized as PSY). He debuted in the 90's and has since been known in South Korea for his many comedic songs, music videos, and dances.In July 2012, he released the music video for his single "Gangnam Style", which became a global hit of immense proportions. Since then PSY has appeared on numerous television programs in almost all continents of the world. As for the internet, Gangnam Style is still actively being parodied, with more than 1 million search results since its debut.Currently "Gangnam Style" is YouTube's most viewed and liked video with over one billion views and seven million likes.Shortly after release of his memetic Gangnam Style single, he signed with Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, planning to work on songs in the near future.On April 2013, Psy's much awaited song "Gentleman", his first single after Gangnam Style, was uploaded on Youtube and had hundreds of millions of views within days.
Tropes associated with PSY include:
Acrofatic: Known for his unconventional pop star looks, but once he's on stage and dancing, you can see he knows his stuff.
Affectionate Parody: The Other Wiki has a partial list of the seemingly endless "Gangnam Style" parodies here. Intriguing meta-concept in that they are parodies of a song intended to be a parody itself.
Cool Shades: Justified when sunbathing, or with foam blowing in your face... but in the sauna?
This seems to be his default look in American media.
Fanservice: HyunA's role in "Oppa is Just My Style".
PSY is often accompanied by attractive female dancers in his videos and onstage.
Elevator Buttons Mash: Seen in "Gentleman", while Jae-Suk is desperately needing the bathroom no less.
Fan Disservice: Psy belly-dancing in the music video for "It's Art".
Funny Background Event: Noh Hong-chul, aka the "Elevator Guy", makes a brief cameo in "Gentleman" doing his dance in the background of a restaurant.
Gratuitous English: Many of his songs (including "Gangnam Style" and "Right Now"), as is typical for K-Pop.
Gonna make you sweat
Gonna make you wet
You know who I am?
Wet PSY
HEYYYYYY Sexy Lady!
Hidden Depths: "Gangnam Style" is actually a social commentary on the hedonism of the rich, Lost in Translation. He also writes tributes to his father.
Informed Attribute: The subway station in the "Gangnam Style" video is repeatedly stated (even on this very page) to be "dirty" and "dingy." Perhaps this is the case by Korean standards, but it's relatively tame by western standards.
Jerkass: In "Gentleman", he spends the video being a killjoy to other people, such as raising the speed on a jogger's treadmill (flinging her off), pressing all the buttons on an elevator... as someone who needs to really needs to take a piss gets on, farting onto his hand and shoving it in a girl's face, and kicking away some children's soccer ball. Then he meets his match in a woman just as jerky as he is...
One Hit Wonder: Is often considered one with "Gangnam Style," despite the fact that it is less than a year old. The reason behind this is that musicians who don't sing in English rarely ever see success in countries that don't speak their native language. Also, it is generally viewed as the goofy novelty song that such one-hit wonders as Los Del Rio, Right Said Fred, and Lou Bega are known for, so chances are he won't have another hit outside South Korea.
Judging by the reception for "Gentleman," this might be averted. Or at least bumped up to Two Hit Wonder.
Singer Namedrop: During the bridge of "Gentleman", PSY proclaims in English, "You know who I am!/Wet PSY!".
Spontaneous Choreography: The music video for "Right Now" is full of this. An office full of workers, a grocery store, and everyone on a backed-up interstate all get up (or out of their cars in the latter case) and just start dancing almost perfectly.
Stealth Parody: Behind the catchy tune, "Gangnam Style" is a critique of those who imitate South Korea's citizens, specifically the posh upper-class Gangnam neighborhood of Seoul (think a Korean Beverly Hills or Manhattan). Psy has said that the song is making fun of posers who say they are "Gangnam style", and it takes shots at women into shallow, materialistic trendiness... and the guys who buy into it to impress chicks.
PSY appears to be lounging on beach, but he's actually on a playground; he admires the horses in a ritzy stable, but winds up on a merry-go-round; he struts in a suit with a babe on each arm while being pelted with garbage and fake snow; and he spends the whole song talking about how he wants a classy lady for a girlfriend, but when he meets his true love in melodramatic slo-mo, they're both on a dingy subway train. He even brags about his wealth while sitting onthe can.
Affectionate Parody: It's also one giant parody of K-Pop, featuring many k-pop artists (that giant random crowd dancing in a disco isn't just a face of nobodies) and a beat that's a take-off on a lot of k-pop songs. Given that PSY's style prior to his international fame is considered K-Pop...
Stylistic Suck: Tying into the stealth parody thing and that PSY is acting as a wannabe poser in his video, he tries to be stylish in all the wrong places - a playground, on a coach bus, on the toilet, during yoga class, in a train...
Stuff Blowing Up: Right before the first chorus hits, an explosion inexplicably goes off behind PSY.
Surprisingly Good English: Studying at Boston University and the Berklee College of Music in the United States very obviously improved PSY's English skills, a trait that many critics have listed as one of the main reasons why he's done so well in western markets, and unlike most K-Pop artists, PSY can fluently communicate with western audiences and understands American culture from his college years, both of which have massively assisted in his promotion of "Gangnam Style".
Unflinching Walk: In the beginning of "Gangnam Style", PSY and two women walk while an excessive amount of wind blows trash and fake snow. The women try their best to keep it out of their faces. PSY... doesn't. Right before the first chorus, an explosion blows away chess players behind PSY... who simply walks up to the screen and introduces 'Gangnam Style' to the viewer.
Visual Pun: PSY declares himself to be "Wet PSY" (a play off the usual "WEST SIDE" shout in American rap) and that he's "gonna make you wet!" For the first one, he gets water poured on himself, for the latter he and two girls are catapulted into a pool.
is YouTube's most viewed and liked video with over one billion views and seven million likes.Shortly after release of his memetic Gangnam Style single, he signed with Justin Bieber's manager, Scooter Braun, planning to work on songs in the near future.On April 2013, Psy's much awaited song "Gentleman"
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