{"id":7085,"date":"2013-04-19T07:48:05","date_gmt":"2013-04-19T07:48:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/?p=7085"},"modified":"2013-04-23T15:35:25","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T15:35:25","slug":"viral-madness-how-%e2%80%98gangnam-style%e2%80%99-changed-the-world","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/?p=7085","title":{"rendered":"Viral madness: How \u2018Gangnam Style\u2019 changed the world"},"content":{"rendered":"

Step with your right leg; step with your left. Back to the right leg; right one more time. Hands out in front; then one fist clenched over your head, elbow slightly bent, making a circular motion. But chances are you already know this dance move because, like more than a billion others around the world, you\u2019ve seen it. Yes, we\u2019re talking about <\/span>\u201cGangnam Style<\/span>\u201d: the most popular YouTube video ever<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
\n Psy and friends perform \u201cGangnam Style\u201d at Seoil College in Seoul.<\/p>\n

\u201cGangnam Style\u201d is a song by South Korean artist Psy. It is also one of the most powerful dance phenomena we have ever seen. It has taken over bars, clubs, sporting events and even political debates, all because of one viral video.<\/p>\n

\u201cGangnam Style\u201d was released on July 15, 2012, and received about 500,000 views on its first day. It reached one million views at the beginning of August, and by the week of August 28 it was number one on YouTube Top 100 Music Videos.<\/p>\n

On December 21, 2012, it became the first online video to be viewed one billion times. As of mid April 2013, it had had 1.523 billion views.<\/p>\n

\u2018I think it\u2019s one of those things like car accidents; you can\u2019t help but look.\u2019 \u2014 Viral video expert Kevin Nalty<\/p>\n

This all despite the widely held opinion that, as a matter of fact, the music isn\u2019t very good. \u201cI think that it wasn\u2019t so much the song itself, but sort of the whole mojo of the video,\u201d says viral video expert and YouTube comedian Kevin Nalty, admitting he doesn\u2019t like the song. \u201cI think it\u2019s one of those things like car accidents; you can\u2019t help but look.\u201d<\/p>\n

They all do Gangnam<\/span><\/p>\n

The scene is Alumni Stadium, home to the Boston College Eagles football team. The Eagles are losing to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on a beautiful New England fall 2012 Saturday night.<\/p>\n

It is in the second quarter, after the BC marching band\u2019s rendition of \u201cCall Me Maybe,\u201d that the familiar sights and sounds of Psy\u2019s \u201cGangnam Style\u201d hit the 44,500-seat stadium\u2019s big screen. The band plays along; the fans belt the words. Most importantly, they all do the dance. They always do the dance. The cheerleaders do it; the fans do it; even the mascot does it. It is the only music video that plays on the big screen all night. And just about everyone in the stadium has seen it, as a couple of now-famous dance moves prove.<\/p>\n

This is what happens when Internet culture seeps into real life. \u201cI think what happens with something like this [\u2026] at some point it\u2019s almost like a commodity you trade with,\u201d says Nalty. \u201c\u2018Did you see that?\u2019 is basically code for \u2018I\u2019m in early; I\u2019ve already seen it; I\u2019m hip to it.\u2019 It\u2019s sort of a badge of honour.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n San Francisco Giants radio announcers Jon Miller (left<\/em>) and Dave Flemming celebrate the team\u2019s World Series win, Gangnam style.<\/p>\n

But what is really incredible about \u201cGangnam Style\u201d is how it has reached older generations \u2014 ones that didn\u2019t grow up with the Internet, ones that are known often for criticizing their children\u2019s music. These generations are not only embracing \u201cGangnam Style\u201d; they are celebrating it.<\/p>\n

On several instances, well-respected, world-renowned people have proven they can\u2019t get enough Gangnam. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon danced \u201cGangnam Style\u201d alongside Psy during a photo op at UN headquarters. London mayor Boris Johnson, at a Conservative party conference in October 2012, told delegates, \u201c\u2018Gangnam Style\u2019 is very good. The Prime Minister and I danced \u2018Gangnam Style\u2019 the other day, you will be shocked to discover.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

President of the International Criminal Court, Song Sang-Hyun, mentioned it during a speech to the UN Security Council. U.S. President Barack Obama mentioned it, saying to WZID FM in New Hampshire, \u201cI just saw that video for the first time\u2026 I think I can do that move.\u201d Never has an Internet fad spread so quickly and so powerfully, and through such impressive ranks.<\/p>\n

Here to stay?<\/p>\n

So how do we explain such an explosive transformation, from Internet sensation to pop icon? Psy has something to do with it. \u201cThere\u2019s just something about this guy that\u2019s so opposite your common pop singer,\u201d says Nalty. \u201cOverweight, goofy, but clearly confident in himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n All the right moves. South Korean pop artist Psy\u2019s \u201cGangnam Style\u201d is the most viewed YouTube video of all time.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe common ingredients are there,\u201d Nalty continued. \u201cIt\u2019s interesting; it hasn\u2019t been done before; it\u2019s catchy; it\u2019s new. Dancing and music are always good ingredients in a viral video.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wall Street Journal<\/em> Korean Correspondent Evan Ramstad says the video\u2019s madcap attitude is atypical of Korean pop videos. \u201cThe dance adds to it, because it is both funny and easy to imitate,\u201d says Ramstad. \u201cThe bass-rhythm groove is also memorable and unmistakable when you hear it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGangnam Style\u201d is the most powerful example of how viral video can impact our culture. But it is just one of many. \u00a0\u201cIt\u2019s sort of like a fabric of society,\u201d Nalty says of viral video. \u201cWe all sort of consume it, and nobody\u2019s left out.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGangnam Style\u201d and other viral videos like it create a societal bond because of their ability to reach such a mass audience. But Gangnam\u2019s eccentricity and downright silliness is what sets it apart.<\/p>\n

Says Nalty, \u201cAfter a while it just becomes a clich\u00e9. I think once it gets to a point where everybody\u2019s universally familiar with, it begs to be satire. I think we\u2019re all looking for something a little offbeat.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cGangnam Style\u201d \u2014 the most-viewed music video ever \u2014 took over YouTube and then impacted world culture in 2012.\u00a0 How a viral video can affect us all.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":68,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7085","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7085","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/68"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7085"}],"version-history":[{"count":101,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7085\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8256,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7085\/revisions\/8256"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7085"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7085"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.cusjc.ca\/capitalarts\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7085"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}