Eric Stonestreet can't believe what's happening.

November 19, 2012 12:31 PM

PSY (with Special Guest MC Hammer) live at the 2012 American Music Awards. [slyt] No further explanation necessary.

How Scooter Braun made it happen.

posted by phaedon (113 comments total)

I am pre-empting the haters and saying I LOVE THIS.
posted by whitneyarner at 12:34 PM on November 19, 2012 [21 favorites]

I'm hating the pre-emptors and saying "meh".
posted by newfers at 12:36 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

I think my favorite detail is PSY's decision to rock a pair of hammerpants.
posted by Narrative Priorities at 12:38 PM on November 19, 2012 [20 favorites]

The early '90s are back, so I guess MC Hammer's due for a revival.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:38 PM on November 19, 2012

newfers: "I'm hating the pre-emptors and saying "meh"."

TOO LATE
posted by boo_radley at 12:40 PM on November 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

The cursing was loud and furious from my family when they discovered this had preempted Once Upon a Time. Usher received the bulk of the admonishments.
posted by Brocktoon at 12:40 PM on November 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

The early '90s are back, so I guess MC Hammer's due for a revival.

That must be why the Bieb is giving off a distinct "Vanilla Ice" vibe these days...
posted by Slothrup at 12:42 PM on November 19, 2012 [10 favorites]

also who was that at 3:05? He looked lost and afraid, poor guy.
posted by boo_radley at 12:43 PM on November 19, 2012

Remember Snowcrash and how that Japanese cyber popstar comes to America to gain credit by playing at a true hardcore heavy metal festival? Yeah, this is sort of the for real, mirror image of that as rap stars of yesteryear use a Korean rock star to get back in the spotlights...
posted by MartinWisse at 12:43 PM on November 19, 2012 [7 favorites]

So over in Metatalk, people have been talking about limerance and whether or not it's a new/overused word.

I'd like to ask the wordsmiths if there's some word that means when something happens that may have not seemed immediately obvious but then when it happens, it's obviously the thing that should have happened , but it's still awesome that it happened. Because I'm pretty sure that's what this is.

I am also sure that I would subscribe to a "Eric Stonestreet can't believe [this thing] is happening" tumblr. And it would require me actually using tumblr.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:43 PM on November 19, 2012 [9 favorites]

When does ashton kutcher get around to telling us we have all been punked? Has he forgotten and now the conspirators are now trapped in their lies and are forced to just live them forever? When did the prank start?
posted by srboisvert at 12:43 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Hammer's just a refrain and a pair of pants now.
posted by inturnaround at 12:43 PM on November 19, 2012 [5 favorites]

This is good news for Psy, who has been suffering from a lack of visibility and could definitely use a friendly boost from a relevant figure in the business.
posted by Wolfdog at 12:45 PM on November 19, 2012 [46 favorites]

(Side note: come on, Internet, I should be able to cut and paste "gates to the mansion are decorated with golden letters spelling the word "hammer time," which Homer bashes with a hammer to spell out "Homertime" into some sort of image search and it should give me the proper Simpsons image)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 12:47 PM on November 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

Japanese cyber popstar

OMG HIS NAME IS SUSHI K
posted by elizardbits at 12:47 PM on November 19, 2012 [11 favorites]

First I admire the fact that there isn't even any pretense of singing live.

Second, I'm not sure who any of those people they kept cutting to in the crowd shots were, but if that's the level of dancing by supposed music professionals, we are all in trouble. (Actually none of us are in trouble, unless you're a fan of pre-manufactured corporate pop. As long as you listen to actual music, thing's are fine.) My kids do the dance better than those professionals.
posted by Keith Talent at 12:48 PM on November 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

If it's Eric Stonestreet I may literally die of not reading the the thread title
posted by boo_radley at 12:48 PM on November 19, 2012

I would subscribe to a "Eric Stonestreet can't believe [this thing] is happening" tumblr

OMG too funny.
posted by phaedon at 12:48 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

U Can't Touch This But U May Scream At It
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:49 PM on November 19, 2012 [9 favorites]

Okay, so how long until I can just walk into a store and get a lemon-yellow slim-fit suit?
posted by griphus at 12:49 PM on November 19, 2012

Obama pivoting to the Pacific; in Myanmar today. Gangnam style blow up. Coincidence? OR 4 DIMENSION CHESS.
posted by Mei's lost sandal at 12:49 PM on November 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

Isn't this song supposed to be making fun of rich and shallow people? Kind of funny to see them dancing along to it. Maybe I'm missing the point.
posted by Think_Long at 12:49 PM on November 19, 2012 [5 favorites]

I was hoping for Los Del Rio.
posted by persona at 12:50 PM on November 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

The early '90s are back, so I guess MC Hammer's due for a revival.

Proving that a bad song is still right twice a decade.
posted by carsonb at 12:50 PM on November 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

I'm hating the pre-emptors and saying "meh".

you are insufficiently legit to commence
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 12:51 PM on November 19, 2012 [38 favorites]

There's an old Simpsons where Marge finds a nice Chanel suit and it gains her access to upper-class activities and gains her increasing popularity. It's her only nice suit and she has to wear it all the time. When she gets snide comments about repeating the same outfit, she reconfigures it and recuts it into various new designs, which buys her time and keeps her popularity afloat. But everyone knows she's just wearing the same suit over and over and over and she can't keep it up forever.
posted by brain_drain at 12:54 PM on November 19, 2012 [10 favorites]

This is even more ridiculous than the Anderson Chewbacca Campaign of 1980.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 12:57 PM on November 19, 2012

I'll change it to "an emphatic 'meh'" if that helps lend credibility to my dislike of the underlying 'meh'-ness of that of bad music and shitty dancing.
posted by newfers at 12:58 PM on November 19, 2012

Normally I'd be in the 'meh' camp on something like this, but in this instance I view it as a person who has been touted as a musical genius actually following through and making good on it. That remix is indeed genius, and PSY has earned my respect.

Also, I'm sorry but any designer or shop owner who dressed their female customers in outfits not designed to handle Gangnam Style for this event should be fired/shuttered ASAP. That song is a wardrobe malfunction ongoing.
posted by carsonb at 12:58 PM on November 19, 2012 [5 favorites]

It has been at least 12 hours, is there an animated gif of the old white guy doing the Arsenio yet???
posted by zix at 12:58 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

If not, we might as well pull the plug on the Internet.
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:00 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was hoping for Dolores Del Rio
posted by Billiken at 1:01 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

"DEATH BY NOSTALGIA: It isn't necessary to imagine the world ending in fire or ice -- there are two other possibilities: one is paperwork, and the other is nostalgia. When you compute the length of time between 'The Event' and 'Nostalgia For The Event,' the span seems to be about 'a year less in each cycle.' Eventually, within the next quarter of a century the nostalgia cycles will be so close together that people will not be able to take a step without being nostalgic for the one they just took. At that point, everything stops. Death by Nostalgia." (FZ) -- The Real Frank Zappa Book

I met MC Hammer at CES in 1999. We had torn down our booth and we were walking out the back door. Hammer was sitting in a metal chair in the XM Satellite launch booth talking to some dopey looking geek. I felt kind of bad for him. Seeing him last night was sort of neat. Hey, if people like it and he can make a few bucks, why not?
posted by KevinSkomsvold at 1:03 PM on November 19, 2012 [5 favorites]

Galaxy Quest: MC Hammer edition.
posted by phaedon at 1:06 PM on November 19, 2012

Arguably the best part of this is the awkward audience shots.
posted by BungaDunga at 1:10 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Perhaps you would like a PSY song that is Not Gangnam Style: this is pretty catchy
posted by East Manitoba Regional Junior Kabaddi Champion '94 at 1:12 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Best comment on the youtube thread:

"This is the culmination of all mankind. All culture has led to this moment."

Just so.
posted by zo219 at 1:12 PM on November 19, 2012 [9 favorites]

Rarely is a one-hit wonder total eclipse event captured on film.
posted by deathpanels at 1:22 PM on November 19, 2012 [8 favorites]

For those of you who want a little more meat on your performances how about the 'singing' and modern-dancing Pink?
posted by persona at 1:25 PM on November 19, 2012 [5 favorites]

I was hoping for Ronnie James Dio.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:26 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Surprisingly, I'm disappointed that MC Hammer didn't have a bigger part in this whole thing. A few samples from "2 Legit 2 Quit" and some dancing -- not a single word uttered (except, possibly, "Hammer time," which sounded like someone was saying it live).

This was basically just "Gangnam Style" with a rapper who hasn't been relevant for about 20 years tacked on at the end.

That said, I really loved the awkward crowd shots. One of the most popular songs in recent months and NO ONE IS SINGING ALONG. BECAUSE NO ONE KNOWS THE WORDS. If American artists can get an entire stadium of people who don't speak English to sing along, word-for-word, when they perform abroad, surely at least a few people could have learned the words to "Gangnam Style" by now (he said, while casually admitting that he doesn't know the words either).
posted by asnider at 1:26 PM on November 19, 2012 [5 favorites]

Gangnam Style works well Korean heavy metal style, too.
posted by needled at 1:26 PM on November 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

Okay, so how long until I can just walk into a store and get a lemon-yellow slim-fit suit?

Right about the same time you can just buy an [lizardo] elevator overthruster [/lizardo].
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:27 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm sort of concerned that PSY is going to be a one-hit novelty act stateside because of the language barrier, but I'd like to think that the American Pop Music Machine will recognize the fact that he is a brilliant producer and that his talent will remain relevant to the music scene here longer than his persona will.
posted by griphus at 1:29 PM on November 19, 2012 [6 favorites]

Ban Ki-Moon was right, Gagnam Style is a force for world peace.

PSY, long may your ridiculous horse dance serve as an antidote to people who hate fun.
posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 1:31 PM on November 19, 2012 [17 favorites]

For someone looking for more PSY that is a little more like Gangnam Style, but not quite, I personally recommend Right Now. Or something a little more nationalistic (and amazingly put together, there's Korea.

That It's Art video was really well done for a concert footage montage too.
posted by sparklemotion at 1:35 PM on November 19, 2012

Love this.
I hope that Psy is enjoying the HELL out of it; every single minute.
The only thing that worried me is that I wanted to throat punch pretty much every single hipster in the audience every time they cut to them.
That's a lot of punching.
I would probably have to do it in shifts or something.
Keep on, Psy. Keep on.
posted by THAT William Mize at 1:40 PM on November 19, 2012

item: "Oh but it is entirely fitting that the director if this monstrosity felt the need to cut to a reaction shot of one of the only black guys in the entire audience when MC Hammer made his entrance. "

That was the presenter, too.
posted by boo_radley at 1:40 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

item, that was the person (Will.I.Am?) who introduced the performance.
posted by bullitt 5 at 1:41 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Oh but it is entirely fitting that the director if this monstrosity felt the need to cut to a reaction shot of one of the only black guys in the entire audience when MC Hammer made his entrance.

So classy.


To be fair, that particular black guy is Will.I.Am -- though he also was dressed like he time traveled from 1991 to warn Hammer to be more careful with his money.

(Funny side note: putting Will.I.Am in the chrome bar up top gets a network error since my requested host "will.i.am" could not be resolved by DNS.)
posted by MCMikeNamara at 1:44 PM on November 19, 2012 [13 favorites]

What the hell was on the crown of will.i.am's hat? Were those reflectors? Buckles? Was his hat getting ready to skydive?
posted by RakDaddy at 1:44 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

the director if this monstrosity felt the need to cut to a reaction shot of one of the only black guys yt in the entire audience

I am embarrassed to admit I was watching the AMA's live -- brain dead and we'd caught up on the good shows on the DVR -- but since I was, I can tell you I saw plenty of "black guys" in the audience during the course of the broadcast.
posted by aught at 1:46 PM on November 19, 2012

(Not saying there weren't a lot of creepy and horrific aspects to this awards show, but that angle was not one of them.)
posted by aught at 1:48 PM on November 19, 2012

Oh but it is entirely fitting that the director if this monstrosity felt the need to cut to a reaction shot of one of the only black guys in the entire audience when MC Hammer made his entrance.

Uh, ok, the same black guy that introduced the song? Yeah, cutting to him is a travesty.

Plus, you can't prove that was a black guy. Maybe it was a white guy in a green screen suit with a hologram of will.i.am transposed on him.
posted by phaedon at 1:51 PM on November 19, 2012

I'm not entirely sure that was the real Hammer.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:52 PM on November 19, 2012

Unimpressed.





Well ok, maybe I'm a little impressed.
posted by mazola at 1:54 PM on November 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

It appears to be part of Psy's current strategy to reach out to 'legacy' pop acts for a little mash-up action. He did a 'walk-on' at a Madonna concert. Probably a smart move in the direction of avoiding the "one-hit wonder" syndrome (which apparently is hitting Gotye, who lost in two categories last night).

As for the other videos, "Right Now" did well with the often-used 'break out of routine' theme (and him in the fake chest was hilarious) and "It's Art" showed how his on-stage persona is seriously informed by vintage Elton John (NOT a bad thing). He already owns his home country and if he just goes back there, he'll be fine. But I suspect he's going to do something even wackier for a follow-up (maybe English-language?) and I, for one, will enjoy it.
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:59 PM on November 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

Also, I predict his follow-up WILL include a cameo appearance by McKayla "unimpressed" Maroney.
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:02 PM on November 19, 2012

Oh my how M.C. Hammer has fallen. It used to be that no one was allowed to wear more ridiculous pants then him.
posted by ckape at 2:04 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Too busy watching the Walking Dead and the football game to even remember this show was on. My wife is an awards show maven, but this one is strictly low-tier for her. If the early 90s are back, then how come we don't get a video from the reunited Soundgarden? Now that would have been awesome.
posted by Ber at 2:10 PM on November 19, 2012

What the hell was on the crown of will.i.am's hat? Were those reflectors? Buckles? Was his hat getting ready to skydive?

Honestly and truthfully thought they were USB ports at first.
posted by royalsong at 2:10 PM on November 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

THAT William Mize: "The only thing that worried me is that I wanted to throat punch pretty much every single hipster in the audience every time they cut to them."

Did we watch the same video? Industry award show music number, audience made up of men in suits and women in eveningwear? I didn't see a single "hipster" (whatever that is) in the audience? Could you post a screenshot, circling the hipsters in the crowd? Was it that old white guy?
posted by danny the boy at 2:10 PM on November 19, 2012 [9 favorites]

Did anyone actually realize that it was MC Hammer there?

Also, i wonder if there's some sort of contract or agreement that says all those famous people in the audience must dance and pretend to have fun to the beat of the shitty music.
posted by palbo at 2:12 PM on November 19, 2012

One day all hipsters will be old white guys, even if they aren't young white guys RIGHT NOW. And they will have lawns, man. But you won't be able to understand them.
posted by maudlin at 2:12 PM on November 19, 2012 [3 favorites]

My favorite crowd shot is the old dude right here.

You go, old dude!
posted by tonycpsu at 2:15 PM on November 19, 2012 [7 favorites]

Reading some of these comments here have me already tempted to break my "I"ll be good for Christmas" pledge in griphus's MeTa thread. In light of said thread however, I'll simply say I liked the song, PSY, MC Hammer's appearance, everyone's wardrobe, the introduction by will.I.am, and the people in the audience singing and dancing, especially the old white guy.
posted by SweetTeaAndABiscuit at 2:19 PM on November 19, 2012 [5 favorites]

(Side note: come on, Internet, I should be able to cut and paste "gates to the mansion are decorated with golden letters spelling the word "hammer time," which Homer bashes with a hammer to spell out "Homertime" into some sort of image search and it should give me the proper Simpsons image)
posted by MCMikeNamara

Here you go: HomerTime
posted by obscure simpsons reference at 2:20 PM on November 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

SweetTeaAndABiscuit: As a (FSM willing) future old, awkward white guy, I couldn't agree more.
posted by tonycpsu at 2:23 PM on November 19, 2012

I was hoping for See Three Pio
posted by symbioid at 2:24 PM on November 19, 2012

I caught the last half hour or so of the broadcast, and the thing is...as dorky and terrible as the audience's "dancing" to Psy was, many of them seemed to be genuinely enjoying the performance. By way of contrast, when Stevie Wonder was on, everyone was standing and clapping and/or swaying in place, but not with much enthusiasm.
posted by The Card Cheat at 2:30 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Roommate rushed home from work yesterday to catch Once Upon a Time, and also was sorely disappointed that the AMA were on instead. She exclaimed "I don't even know what Im watching. I don't know most of these people." (She's a 50-something who adores Michael Jackson, and thinks Adele is cutting edge. I'm not about to expose her to Borknagar or Mayhem any day soon.)

However, she kept PSY on due to my pleading, and afterwards, deemed it "Good!". So, there you go, PSY. You won over the 50-something white woman demographic.
posted by spinifex23 at 2:38 PM on November 19, 2012

This is it, isn't it? My first child is nigh, and already there is a whole pop culture phenomenon going on and I have no idea what it is. I'm so OLD. I mean, this was on STRICTLY COME DANCING (I think DANCING WITH THE STARS in the USA) and I had NO IDEA what they were on about. Even Bruce Forsyth was doing it and he's about 106.

So it's the Macarena/Birdy Dance/Jitterbug of 2012, right? Help me out here.
posted by alasdair at 2:50 PM on November 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

This is the moment we pass the torch of cultural domination to Asia.
posted by Renoroc at 3:01 PM on November 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

Won't be long now before Psy's Gangnam Style (767,510,438 views and the most 'likes') overtakes Justin Beiber's Baby (801,803,802 views and the most 'dislikes') to be the most viewed video on YouTube.

Hmmm. Feeling twitchy to do a FPP when Gangnam Style becomes the first to a billion views. Still have time to work out how to frame the post so it ties in with cats, Mitt Romney's tax returns, George Lucas, Twinkies, and why you should leave your partner.

Unless Gangnam Style gets pipped to a billion.
posted by Wordshore at 3:01 PM on November 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

Two questions:

Is this the first non-English song sung at the AMA's?

Do you think that producers asked PSY to pick his collaborator, and he chose MC Hammer? Because he knows his moves.

Also point of clarification, MC Hammer was no one hit wonder, as evidenced by the fact that this mashup was "2 Legit 2 Quit" and NOT "Hammertime". Get with it, people.
posted by graventy at 3:08 PM on November 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

I was at a wedding last weekend and they played Gangnam Style at the reception. The dancefloor response was huge (and tons of fun to dance along to; it's not hard for someone who's never seen the video to pick up the horsey-dance). I'm wondering if it will have staying power.
posted by zsazsa at 3:11 PM on November 19, 2012

Is this the first non-English song sung at the AMA's?

Nah, the first shows were all American songs. Until the BeeGees showed up in 1979.

Do you think that producers asked PSY to pick his collaborator, and he chose MC Hammer?

Google did it.
posted by Twang at 3:15 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm wondering if it will have staying power.

MetaFilter folk have been posting and commenting on Gangnam Style for four months now. And the line on the views meter isn't really slackening off. It's gone through several waves of parodies, and there's probably going to be a wave of Christmas-related parodies any week soon.

So, yes, looks it has staying power. More than Mitt ... forgotten his surname (anyone?) ... and other things that have come and gone this year.
posted by Wordshore at 3:25 PM on November 19, 2012

I thought Pink's live performace of Try was incredible.
posted by Kwine at 3:43 PM on November 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

Well, glad he made it.
posted by deo rei at 3:45 PM on November 19, 2012

This is the moment we pass the torch of cultural domination to Asia.

What? The entire phenomenon is a product of the west! That's like saying Plato lost because he died.
posted by deo rei at 3:48 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was hoping for the Statics del Rheo.
posted by anothermug at 4:00 PM on November 19, 2012

I like to imagine Psy desperately wanting to sing a heartfelt song he wrote about a romantic breakup but being condemned to do nothing but the horsey-dance for the rest of his career because I'm dark that way.
posted by Egg Shen at 4:18 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Egg Shen: "I like to imagine Psy desperately wanting to sing a heartfelt song he wrote about a romantic breakup but being condemned to do nothing but the horsey-dance for the rest of his career because I'm dark that way."

No you aren't. Because that's the way it always ends up.
posted by Samizdata at 4:23 PM on November 19, 2012

Psy singing a heartfelt song about fathers
posted by needled at 4:28 PM on November 19, 2012 [6 favorites]

It warms my cold black heart to see a non-English song being sung at the American Music Awards.
posted by jess at 4:30 PM on November 19, 2012 [8 favorites]

Not the first time I've heard something at one of these awards nights that I couldn't understand the lyrics to. (not mumble-ist!)
posted by ninazer0 at 4:33 PM on November 19, 2012

Psy singing a heartfelt song about fathers

Versatile! Maybe next he'll compose Seoul Oratorio.
posted by Egg Shen at 4:39 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

Twang: "Nah, the first shows were all American songs. Until the BeeGees showed up in 1979."

Sorry, I should have been more specific. First non-English-language performance, is what I meant.
posted by graventy at 4:43 PM on November 19, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was at a wedding last weekend and they played Gangnam Style at the reception. The dancefloor response was huge (and tons of fun to dance along to; it's not hard for someone who's never seen the video to pick up the horsey-dance). I'm wondering if it will have staying power.

Oh my god. It's the HOKEY POKEY of our age!
posted by potsmokinghippieoverlord at 5:22 PM on November 19, 2012

Oh my god. It's the HOKEY POKEY of our age!

Come on now, I think YMCA is a fairer comparison. It's still a terrible comparison, because PSY is awesome, but let's be more charitable than the Hokey Pokey.
posted by asnider at 6:31 PM on November 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

There's an old Simpsons where Marge finds a nice Chanel suit and it gains her access to upper-class activities and gains her increasing popularity. It's her only nice suit and she has to wear it all the time. When she gets snide comments about repeating the same outfit, she reconfigures it and recuts it into various new designs, which buys her time and keeps her popularity afloat. But everyone knows she's just wearing the same suit over and over and over and she can't keep it up forever.
posted by brain_drain at 12:54 PM on November 19

Psy has been a figure in the Korean music scene for about a decade, and it is kinda offensive to imply he's a talentless one-hit wonder just because you only heard of him now. Korea's not the same as the worldwide stage, but they have a well-developed music industry of their own and a Korean artist who gains international popularity is hardly the equivalent of a bumpkin gaining entry to country clubs, or whatever you're trying to imply. Gaining popularity via Internet meme should be regarded as a happy accident rather than the defining focus of Psy's career.
posted by Anonymous at 6:43 PM on November 19, 2012

Come on now, I think YMCA is a fairer comparison. It's still a terrible comparison, because PSY is awesome, but let's be more charitable than the Hokey Pokey.

Hokey Pokey < Chicken Dance < YMCA < Macarena < Electric Slide < Cupid Shuffle < Horsey Dance

The Cha Cha Slide is so much worse than all of these, I don't even know how to represent it.
posted by vytae at 6:44 PM on November 19, 2012 [6 favorites]

Yeah I came back to say what schroedinger just did. The guy studied (but did not degree) at the Berklee School of Music, has 6 studio albums and a bunch of Asian music awards. You don't have to preemptively feel bad for him for his "one hit wonder", though I'm sure he appreciates your concern.

And how many one hit wonders are social criticisms (in this case, of Korean consumer debt) wrapped up in a satire of popular music tropes, the perfect execution of which caused it to be so widely popular in the first place...?
posted by danny the boy at 6:56 PM on November 19, 2012 [2 favorites]

vytae: Even though some people may not like Gangnam Style, if it displaces any amount of Cha Cha Slide it's a net benefit to mankind.
posted by zsazsa at 7:19 PM on November 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

I'm late to the PSY party, but I'm a fan now. When the Gangnam Style video first appeared on MeFi, I watched it with everyone else, but just didn't get it. But just late last night, I was surfing on YT and somehow ran across PSY's channel and for some reason watched some of his other videos. The concert ones from his LIVE SEOUL PLAZA concert are just amazing. So much energy and fun and wow factor: Right Now and Shake It. I also watched his "making of" video for the original Gangnam Style vid, and really enjoyed it, especially seeing him laughing and getting such a kick out of the silliness of the Gangnam clips.
posted by marsha56 at 7:27 PM on November 19, 2012 [5 favorites]

I am going to say "Too legit....too legit to quit!" under my breath all week now for sure, in addition to, "Ehhhhh SEXY LAYYY-DEEZ!" which I've been saying now and then anyway.

THIS IS AWESOME!!!!
posted by discopolo at 8:20 PM on November 19, 2012 [4 favorites]

The one thing that just totally gets me is I keep hearing what a humble guy PSY is. And I have almost no direct evidence for this, but now that it's in the back of my mind, every time I see him I notice how happy people are around him. In an incredibly short amount of time, this guy has connected with every nook and cranny of American culture - he has danced with the head of Google, leaders of the UN, and even his musical idols like Hammer and Madonna. This guy is so hot, he doesn't gain anything by paying homage to them.

Even at the end of this dance routine, if you look closely he forms the bottom part of an H with MC Hammer, and the set closes with H's branding, not PSY's. Totally unnecessary and simply awesome.

And I say that having worked in the American music industry, where it goes without saying that most of our artists are spoiled, entitled brats. In fact, there is an entire economy built around the idiocy of "superstars" like Britney, Xtina, Linsday Lohan, not to mention (unfortunately) a lot of modern-day rappers, etc. Everyone's gettin pulled over, doing drugs, and fighting over money. I secretly hope he's a really kind person and that his success is largely based on that.
posted by phaedon at 12:15 AM on November 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

I was hoping for Young MC. Now there was a one-hit wonder.
posted by Mezentian at 1:00 AM on November 20, 2012

I'm looking forward to PSY showing up in "Where the Hell is Matt? 2014"
posted by phong3d at 8:23 AM on November 20, 2012 [3 favorites]

If anyone wants to learn more about PSY and K-Pop in general to put this whole thing in context, this New Yorker article is a good read.
posted by ultraviolet catastrophe at 8:37 AM on November 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

Is this where I plug my article on Gangnam Style? I wrote an article on Gangnam Style.

If American artists can get an entire stadium of people who don't speak English to sing along, word-for-word, when they perform abroad, surely at least a few people could have learned the words to "Gangnam Style" by now

The cast of Glee learned the words! Right here. Incidentally, in their cover you can hear the Bollywoord influence a lot better.
posted by subdee at 11:14 AM on November 20, 2012 [2 favorites]

Anyway, my favorite Korean things related to Gangnam Style:

Crazyno - Musiche (crazy guy in suit wants you to listen to his CD)

TVXQ - Catch Me (most bizarre use of the LMFAO Party Rock squelch)

E.via - I'm a Girl Who Knows How to Play a Little - forget the HyunA version, *this* is the female-POV response song-and-video the world deserves. brilliant video, too)
posted by subdee at 11:21 AM on November 20, 2012

Why is China censoring a fake photo of its leaders doing ‘Gangnam Style’?
posted by homunculus at 4:23 PM on November 20, 2012

Prediction time.

Gangnam Style is on 775,547,066 YouTube views at the moment. It's recently averaging 7.21 million views a day, which means 31 more days to reach 1 billion views on YouTube.

Which uh means that it'll get there on December 21st 2012.

Oh. Which is also this day.

Oh shit. I don't think that's a coincidence... :(
posted by Wordshore at 5:59 PM on November 20, 2012 [1 favorite]

I was hoping for Lana Del Ray.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:02 PM on November 20, 2012

I'm sure no one wants ANOTHER post, so I'll just leave this video of Goths at Whitby here:
GANGNAM STYLE PARODY Whitby Gothic Style.

The lyrics are informative.

I think the gauntlet has been thrown down to Wave Gothic Treffen.
posted by Mezentian at 10:47 PM on November 28, 2012

Bill O'Reilly Attempts To Explain Gangnam Style
posted by the man of twists and turns at 9:23 AM on December 4, 2012

Psy has been a figure in the Korean music scene for about a decade, and it is kinda offensive to imply he's a talentless one-hit wonder just because you only heard of him now.

Eh, he's in good company: Kylie has been a ginormous worldwide star for multiple decades but if you say her name in the US most people still furrow their brows and go "Do the Locomotion?".
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 9:51 AM on December 4, 2012

PSY’s Protesting Past
posted by homunculus at 1:44 PM on December 7, 2012

Kill those fucking Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives
Kill those fucking Yankees who ordered them to torture
Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers
Kill them all slowly and painfully

Well, that's going to go down well.
posted by Mezentian at 7:41 PM on December 7, 2012

Gangnam Nationalism: Why Psy’s anti-American rap shouldn’t surprise you
posted by homunculus at 6:02 PM on December 10, 2012

The PSY scandal: singing about killing people v. constantly doing it
posted by homunculus at 6:03 PM on December 10, 2012 [1 favorite]