THE KING IS BACK!: Psy's YouTube page becomes international playground of fans

By Park Sae-jin Posted : May 11, 2017, 11:28 Updated : May 11, 2017, 11:28

[officialpsy YouTube channel]


Psy, who gained international fame with "Gangnam Style" in 2012, returned to the music scene with a new album including his two title tracks --"I LUV IT" and "NEW FACE" that dominated the charts of major South Korean music services.

In most charts, he has at least five tracks standing in the top 10. Both videos uploaded onto YouTube Wednesday went viral. "I LUV IT" garnered over four million views while "NEW FACES" was watched over 3.8 million times.

Now, Psy's YouTube page has become an international playground for tens of thousands of fans cheering at the star's return. "THE KING IS BACK", a YouTuber named Larrie Queen commented.  Another user, Smart Touch, wrote, "OMG it was Amazing i love PSY."

More interesting is that while K-pop idols such as EXO and BTS have fair share comments left in Korean on their YouTube pages, Psy's is full of English and other languages. A South Korean fan, RealBerry, protested in Korean, "Anyone confused because most of the comments here are in English?"

Since Psy overwhelmed the world in 2012, the star has released a series of follow-up tracks -- "GENTLEMEN" (2013), "HANGOVER (feat. Snoop Dogg)" (2014), "DADDY" (2015) and "NAPAL BAJI" (2015).

Their popularity fell far short of Gangnam Style's but international fans have consistently shown love to Psy. The YouTube view count of Gangnam Style stands at an amazing 2.83 billion, GENTLEMEN scored just over one billion, and Napal Baji garnered 43 million

 

At home, fans remained discontent about translated lyrics, complaining the English version failed to deliver the original message. "The original Korean lyrics have a lot of innuendos and witty-double meanings that can't really be as comically translated into english," a YouTuber named Elise Park said in an English comment.

Although the 39-year-old is internationally well known as a rapper and his unique dance, Psy is popular at home for his twisted lyrics full of puns and innuendos. "NEW FACE", a song about the people's need for a new aspiring figure, is also full of witty lyrics.

Despite Psy's denial, fans suggest the track was possibly directed at South Korea's new president because of its timing. The album was released on Wednesday when President Moon Jae-in took office.

The other title song "I LUV IT" is autobiographical, describing how he feels about the people's reactions. It is filled with innuendos so that the song makes fans and anti-fans wonder whether Psy is dissing or praising them.

Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
 
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