Gangnam Style

The music video for "Gangnam Style" by South Korean rapper and singer Psy premiered on July 15, 2012, on the video-sharing website YouTube and was later made available to download digitally on October 19. It was directed by Cho Soo-hyun and was filmed in Seoul in July 2012 over the course of 48 hours. In the video, Psy "pokes fun at the style of Seoul's Gangnam District, a flashy district known for its affluence, high rents, high expectations and a focus on the high-status lifestyle". The video is currently the eleventh most-viewed video and the eleventh most-liked video on YouTube, as well as the 19th most-disliked. On December 21, 2012, the music video set a record for the first video to surpass 1 billion views on the platform. It subsequently surpassed 2 billion, 3 billion and 4 billion views in June 2014, November 2017 and March 2021, respectively. The music video won several accolades from various award-giving bodies, including Best Music Video at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong, the Music Video Award at the 2012 Melon Music Awards in Seoul, and Best Video at the 2012 MTV Europe Music Awards in Frankfurt, Germany. Production The music video is directed by Cho Soo-hyun, who also directed the music video for Psy's follow-up single "Gentleman" and the music video for "This Love" by Shinhwa. It shows Psy performing a comical horse-riding dance and appearing in unexpected locations around the Gangnam District, such as an outdoor yoga session and a hot tub. He wears several distinctive suits and black sunglasses with a "dress classy and dance cheesy" mindset. It features a "skewering [of] the Gangnam image" by the "non-Gangnam Psy"; this parody would be recognizable to viewers familiar with Korean culture. Although there are more than ten different locations featured, only two of the scenes are actually filmed in the Gangnam district. The sauna scene, elevator scene and bathroom scene were filmed elsewhere in the greater Seoul region, and some shots were filmed in World Trade Center Seoul and the Songdo International Business District, which includes Songdo Central Park and International Business District Station. The video was shot over 48 hours in July 2012. In K-pop, it is routine to have cameos by celebrities in a music video, such as in the dance scenes in the elevator and the parking garage.