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Korea's Kolaveri Di rocks YouTube 'Gangnam Style'

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CIOL Bureau
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BANGALORE, INDIA: If you hadn't heard about South Korean rapper Psy a few weeks ago, you would be forgiven. Not anymore. Not after his famous Gangnam Style K-pop song that has gone viral on YouTube and still is rocking various music charts.

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To draw a local comparison, it is effortlessly outdoing our local sensation Why This Kolaveri Di? So far, it has the most views as a K-pop song, according to some estimates, and has garnered about 1.1 billion views on YouTube since July 15.

The single is at No. 30 on US iTunes Top 100 Songs chart and right on top of iTunes Top 10 Pop Songs chart in Denmark and Finland. Billboard.com reckons that "Gangnam Style" is making its presence slowly felt in the US. Just another instance YouTube has asserted its ever-increasing power to make celebrities overnight out of lesser-known talents.

Basically, what the stocky and 'imaginary-horse riding' Psy does is that he "parodies Gangnam, the wealthiest, most powerful neighbourhood in South Korea; the rollicking invisible-horse dance", Chok Suat Ling writes in New Straits Times.

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In fact, Rollingstone admits "to being a few weeks late on this astoundingly great K-Pop video that has all the best elements of hypnotically weird one-hit wonders, from Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy to Kreayshawn's Gucci Gucci".

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The deadpan video, in which 34-year-old hipster — originally Park Jae-Sang — stares directly into the camera while doing various bizarre horse-riding dance moves in a succession of Elvis-and-beachcombing costumes..., says Rollingstone, "hasn't made a dent on iTunes in the U.S. yet, but BigChampagne's Internet data-mining Ultimate Chart has it rising from Number 23 to Number Nine. It's a novelty, but industry people are already talking about Psy as the Next Big Thing, with possible representation from Justin Bieber's manager Scooter Braun and others. It's also a satire of wealthy Seoul culture, which in itself makes it deeper than its viral precursor, Rebecca Black's 'Friday'."

"We hope Psy gets filthy rich from this," wished Rollingstone on Wednesday.

Watch the YouTube video here: http://bit.ly/Q6Dwqu.

Latest news: Psy has signed up with teen sensation Justin Bieber's label, Island Records, for his singing career in the US and other countries. He will be under YG Entertainment in Korea.

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