PSY / YMMV - TV Tropes

Accidental Innuendo: Even in his Lighter and Softer songs, PSY shamelessly parodies this trope.
Americans Hate Tingle: Despite being a hit worldwide, the reception for "Gangnam Style" in Japan didn't set off massive hits, though it's fairly popular on Nico Nico Douga. It helps that Japan is used to K-pop, for the most part, and parodies (or anything that isn't squeaky-clean, mainstream k-pop) don't do as well as actual k-pop. (There was also yet another diplomatic incident between the two countries, which set off nationalist protests against anything Korean.)
Awesome Music:
- Most (in)famous example is of course "Gangnam Style".
- Now try It's Art on for size.
- To say nothing of his catchy 2022 comeback, "That That" with Suga.
Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: The video for "Gangnam Style" is made of them:
- For Western audiences, the pelvic-thrusting, manically grinning man in the elevator takes the cake.^note
- When PSY is on the toilet.
- PSY in the jacuzzi as well.
Discredited Meme: Psy has mentioned several times he's gotten sick of "Gangnam Style" and that "it's too popular".
Fridge Brilliance: "Gentleman" is already filled with PSY being a total jackass... but something Anglo-American audiences may not notice is that he's already being a jackass five seconds in- he's making people older than him carry all his shopping. A pretty big no-no in most Asian cultures (and others as well, though it's deathly serious in East Asia).
Gateway Series: PSY played a role in helping popularize K-Pop in the West with "Gangnam Style": some of those who watched it for the meme then decided to check out other songs in the genre.
Growing the Beard: When PSY debuted in Turn of the Millennium, his songs were foul-mouthed, cynical and gritty, criticizing on some social phenomenon in a Black Comedy Vulgar Humor way that garnered so much criticism from public. However, his newer songs, especially ones in The New '10s, have gone Lighter and Softer, featuring no explicit cuss words, and Accidental Innuendo are barely present. This results in better reception than when he debuted. At least, he does know South Korea's censorship better than when he debuted in 2001.
Germans Love David Hasselhoff: Spectacularly so.
- In 2012, "Gangnam Style" became a hit in Korea (where PSY was already an established star), then America, then the world.
- Psy released 2 songs in 2017: I Luv It and New Face. While I Luv It was far more popular in Korea than other places, New Face was far more popular elsewhere.
Hype Aversion: "Gangnam Style" was blown up to the moon and back in 2012, but oversaturated the internet causing people to get sick of it. Its tremendous popularity also caused some people to flat out avoid it.
It's Popular, Now It Sucks!: Even though Psy's "Gangnam Style" has gained more views than Justin Bieber's "Baby", he's already seen as one of the reasons why music and people's tastes suck nowadays. Ironically, Psy himself has stated his intention to "retire" Gangnam Style, saying that it's "too popular" now.
Memetic Molester: Elevator guy.
Memetic Mutation: Oh the amount of "Gangnam Style" parodies and references out there.
Misaimed Fandom: "Gangnam Style" is critical of the expensive and superficial nature of the Gangnam area, but the song's popularity caused Koreans and foreign tourists to flock there. There's even a photo area set up with Psy's silhouette so people can take their photos while recreating the song's signature horse dance.
Older Than They Think: Psy's first album was released in 2001 with his first song Bird. But see Growing the Beard above.
One-Scene Wonder:
- The dancing kid in the beginning has some fans of his own.
- And of course, elevator guy...
Paranoia Fuel: "Urbanite". Oh damn. this is the edgiest song PSY has ever made. The depiction of Workaholic phenomenon in this music video can be very unsettling to even viewers, if the music alone isn't paranoid enough.
- Then there's the remix that make your heartbeat skyrocketing...
Signature Song: "Gangnam Style", naturally. Oddly, this was his first song in a while. Whether or not it is viewed as his signature song in South Korea is debatable.
Tear Jerker: Being one of the earlier and darker entries, "The End" can make you suffer this.
Too Bleak, Stopped Caring: The setting in "Urbanite" is EXTREMELY DARK that even PSY (at least in this music video, anyway) doesn't care about it. The monochrome rendering of the music video's setting made this even worse, the worst even by PSY's standards.
Tough Act to Follow: After the insane success of "Gangnam Style", which broke multiple YouTube view count records and went unsurpassed as the most viewed YouTube video for over 4 years, it was inevitable that it cast a shadow over any future songs he produced for a while. For instance:
- "Gentleman" got this hard from the Internet, with lots saying "I preferred Gangnam Style", or saying they just don't like it.
- It's even more noticeable in "Hangover" which got, let's just say mixed reactions to put it lightly.
- Now that it's been six years since "Gangnam Style" the overwhelming comparison of his later works to it has cooled down a bit allowing his newer songs "I LUV IT" and "New Face" to be judged on their own merits.
Visual Effects of Awesome: The Cinematography of PSY's videos is stunning. It's part of what caused "Gangnam Style" to catch the world's eye and it's only getting better over time.

YMMV / PSY

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