It's funny how big of a deal is for americans understanding the lyrics while a large part of the rest of the world listens to english music not understanding a word. Trust me, gibberish can be fun
I love Kpop, and when I mention it the first thing that people think of is Gangnam Style. I hate how the genre is represented this way; there are so many talented Kpop artists. For every culture that we patronize for their weirdness, there are probably ten other countries that find us annoying as fuck.
First of all, Gangnam Style isn't about Korean credit card debt. It's a satire about people trying to appear wealthier than they are to seem to be someone. The song is about coffee, which in Korea is a symbol of status and Gangnam is a wealthy district. As Todd mentions. K-Pop is the only international promoted music in korea, however, so it's a little difficult to just pass off the entire music business just because of one genre. Also, Caramell Dansen XD
It works like the Macarena - You have no idea what is being said most of the time, but something about that beat is hypnotising, it has a dance craze attached to it, and there's the buzzword that the entire room can sing together. It's a fun, drunk party song.
Because there's never EVER been a talented pop singer outside of Asia. All westerners are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo horrible and S.Korea is soooooooooooooooo better.
No, that's not what I was trying to get at. My point is that most pop artist now a days are far to artificial. People like katy perry, taylor swift, justin beiber ect use to be talented but have been taken over by the industry and they have been drained of the talent that they did have. Now I know anyone's argument for that would be "well, in Korea it's record labels that put bands together so how is that not artificial?" Yes this is true and anyone can have their own opinion about that but, when that happens the artist in the band go through years of training to become artist so instead of just picking up a kid who actually has potential of being a great artist and then draining them of that and just covering them up with autotune in Korea they would take those same people and actually trained them to their highest potential. And yes I am talking about pop music today and not 30 years ago when pop music was genuine and good because things like autotune didn't really exist. And there are also a ton of exceptions, like Bruno mars to an extent, justin timber lake, and many more but I was just trying to get at the point that Todd is being kinda hypocritical when saying that Kpop is all mindless and brainless when like any genre of music there's going to be good stuff and bad stuff. I would just have wish Todd would have been I little more open minded and done a little more digging in the Kpop genre because there are some great Kpop acts like Shinee, Super junior, and some single acts like G-dragon. I see now that the way I worded my last comment was wrong, but saying that there are only talented artists in Asia wasn't my intention.
From what I understand about the artist and some translations of the song I've fond, it is a song making fun of Korea's Gangam district, which is a very popular place to live due to the status that comes with it. People are more than willing to max out credit cards to live there and buy five dollar coffees to look like they are rich, but go home and eat cup noodle when they get home. So really from what I have seen this guy is the Korean Weird Al. Which is really kind of funny that he did so well in America.
I'm a fan of some Kpop groups (SNSD, Red Velvet, etc.), but all these people in the comments defending it and saying it's no more shallow than Western pop are willfully ignorant. It's way more manufactured, just train a bunch of kids to sing and dance on a mediocre level and send them out to sell, then make the next group. Give them bubbly love songs in the hope that they become popular. At least in the West most of the artists have some hand in the production of their songs, and they don't lip sync nearly as much. Also Kpop relies heavily on looks/beauty, more so than the West.
I can't help it, everytime I hear this song or see Psy on TV, I can't help but smile. He's just so comitted to the song that it makes a little happier inside.
If you watch the miracles video it is hard for anyone who is somewhat aware that their is not a bit of sarcasm implied, but sadly the song is for the most part just a piece of irony.
Years later and now a k-pop group won top social artist two years in a row and performed at the billboard music awards something psy didn't do selling out shows left and right in the west getting lots of girls dampening there panties and screaming like crazy yeah one direction had a lot of screaming fans they were loud but not as loud as BTS fans I will say that much and I've been to two one direction concerts and yeah I had to bring earplugs cuz I knew it was going to be loud but I probably have to bring really strong earplugs if I go to a BTS concert cuz really they are taking over the us right now and it's only a matter of time before groups like EXO Got7 Red Velvet name any other K-Pop group that's actually pretty big with the west right now getting that same attention all those groups I just mentioned a lot of western girls and guys actually like them so I won't be surprised but still and yeah girls literally scream so loud for these k-pop boy bands it's kind of hard to understand the music at least that's why I've heard from some people that actually have seen them live but thanks to successes like gangnam style k-pop is becoming way more freaking popular in the west it's only a matter of time before j-pop is next
I would like to see him do that one. He already ripped on several videos that are about guys that have gotten so big they don't need to respect women. Gentlemen's (even if you don't understand the lyrics) video is essentially that. Now whether that's Psy again making a joke, in this case about said songs todd has ripped on, then i'd be curious if todd ends up ripping on it or giving it respect. I guess it depends on todd's interpretation.
I understand that you don't agree with the mainstream korean pop singers, but there truly are better singers out there, we just have to utterly immerse ourselves in the culture to find them, just like everywhere else. Nowadays, you can rarely find good songs but they do exist and they are actually pretty good. You may not respect them for it but that doesn't mean you can simply generalize. It's like saying every asian artist is a Super Junior and every occidental artist a Justin Beiber
hmm, i dunno, to me the song is catchy enough that I was pretty hooked for like a month. I think it was fun just because of what a ohenomenon it was, like you could play it on the radio out of a car and people would start doing the dance walking down the street.
The only reason why Kpop that we know is incredibly bland, insipid, & "dumb as hell" is because Kpop has began selling out this decade. Back in 90's & early to mid 2000's, kpop acts had relatively talented acts. I mean yeah, back then, it copies a lot from american pop music, but compared to other genres in asia, this genre along with Taiwanese Pop music (& arguably chinese) were the only genres of asian pop music compared to others out there that were actually shaking things up & pressing the envelope of asian pop music at the time. Eg. Lee Hyori's "10 Minutes", which is a song about how she can seduce a guy in 10 minutes. Now thanks to the success of groups like Super Junior & their female protege Girls Generation (both groups that are steeped in asian-style-selling out), Kpop has since copied that formula & like the model of Girls Generation & Super Junior; have scaled down the standard for talent & began emphasizing the importance of appearance (asian style aesthetics for standard of "good looking"; guys being androgynous, & girls being flowery barbie girls). As for Psy's background (which I felt Todd didn't go really in depth about, he wasn't very active during the old-school era of Kpop when Kpop actually emphasized talent, & when he was, he was equally controversial as he was successful. Despite the fact that he impressed his company with his flow, his record company initially refused to debut him because of his appearance, until one day they decided that he can be most marketable as a kooky rapper. Coming on the scene in 2001, he had three hits; his debut single "Birds", "The End", & "Champion". The first was especially controversial because of the use of profanity which was a sensitive issue in the korean media. Much of the mid to late 2000's, Psy was doing his mandatory military service (2003-2009), as a military entertainer releasing only one big hit in that time ("Entertainer"). After that, his next big hit would be "Gangnam Style". Todd equating Psy as the korean F. Scott Fitzgerald is incorrect & only seems that way cuz Todd probably only began looking into Kpop at a time when Kpop has begun selling out. Pre-Gangnam-Style era Psy was actually notorious for doing things purposely to pissing people off; namely the higher ups in the entertainment industry, spending as much time in court from being sued as he does in the recording studio. Yeah, before "Gangnam Style", people didn't really like him. As a matter of fact, apparently this single was made to make fun of those very people who disliked him; & because it's also ironic because Psy is actually originally from that area he's making fun of.
K-Pop is poplar solely because of the Korean language, which, compared to our Germanic English language, is punchy, excited, and fun. Therefore, great club tracks.
i think parodying this song islike carrying a seven foot styraphom buster sword it might look cool in youre head but has anybody ever looked cool doing it
I agree that Gangnam Style is fairly good comedy in its own right but I would not, as some people I know would, say it was clever OR a good song by any means!
Naw, this wasn't it. Most North Americans viewed Gangnam Style as the equivalent of the Macarena or the Hammy the Hamster dance. It was a novelty, nothing more. It was very quickly forgotten about. Kpop became big when One Direction had the audacity to go on indefinite hiatus. Every moronic 13 year old girl with too much babysitting money in her purse needed a new boy band to call their teddy-bear and BTS happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Since you know the Commentary somewhat."Gangham Style" is pretty much a very Goofy Version of "Club Tropicana" by Wham(Poor Kids trying to Bling and be Nouveau Riche,but Club Tropicana was about Kids on The Dole in Great Britain taking these Value pack Tropical Vacations)
The only thing I can say for Kpop idols is that a lot of them had to work really hard training and sacrifice a lot to be in the position they are in. Jo Kwon, I think took him like eight years of training before he was finally put in a group, isn't even that popular. Anyway that's just an example. The funny thing is that I'm not even that into Kpop in terms of listening to songs but I know a lot of people involved. I watch variety shows so I think that's they reason why...?
no, he had other songs, this was the only one popular enough to make it to the us. (besides gentleman, but thats just because his other song was so popular.)
Hahaha XD, I must admit that was funny but I didn't like that he has a purely Americanized view on everything. He hasn't even done any homework whatsoever on the background that the lyrics speaks about or the relevance of many attitudes from the oriental countries. Nothing, I really found his comments stereotyped and out fo place.
Haha I'm more surprised that Kpop netizens/sasaeng haven't reached this video to rip it apart. "Don't you touch our sacred Kpop or I'll get my Oppa to beat you up. Saranghae
That would be the Studio Ghibli film "Pom Poko". It is decidedly not epic... At least, if you consider a bunch of raccoons swinging their gigantic nutsacks at ebul logging companies is epic after an hour or so of boring history and culture lessons. Which I most certainly don't.
It's funny how big of a deal is for americans understanding the lyrics while a large part of the rest of the world listens to english music not understanding a word. Trust me, gibberish can be fun
As someone who listens to K-pop, A-pop, E-Pop and J-Pop, I can tell you, that there's no real fundamental difference.
Hahaaa...Caramelldansen...Does anyone still remember that?
It's still at anime conventions every now and then, but it's almost gone I think.
It was good while it lasted, especially if you could find a cosplayer who could do the full dance.
I agree wholeheartedly!
actually caramelldansens still on my ipod...it's still one of my fav swedish song
hellmasterjoleck Nice! When I first heard it, I thought it sounded Japanese!
Personally I like gibberish as part of a good melody, more than meaningful lyrics that don't fit in the song.
for some reason, I feel like todd would really like BTS's I Need U and Run...
No, he would enjoy IU's Red Shoes.
If you only watched most of Oldboy, you didn't watch Oldboy.
I love Kpop, and when I mention it the first thing that people think of is Gangnam Style. I hate how the genre is represented this way; there are so many talented Kpop artists. For every culture that we patronize for their weirdness, there are probably ten other countries that find us annoying as fuck.
First of all, Gangnam Style isn't about Korean credit card debt. It's a satire about people trying to appear wealthier than they are to seem to be someone. The song is about coffee, which in Korea is a symbol of status and Gangnam is a wealthy district. As Todd mentions. K-Pop is the only international promoted music in korea, however, so it's a little difficult to just pass off the entire music business just because of one genre. Also, Caramell Dansen XD
It works like the Macarena - You have no idea what is being said most of the time, but something about that beat is hypnotising, it has a dance craze attached to it, and there's the buzzword that the entire room can sing together. It's a fun, drunk party song.
K-pop is no more shallow than western pop music........ At least K-pop artists are actually talented
Because there's never EVER been a talented pop singer outside of Asia. All westerners are soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo horrible and S.Korea is soooooooooooooooo better.
No, that's not what I was trying to get at. My point is that most pop artist now a days are far to artificial. People like katy perry, taylor swift, justin beiber ect use to be talented but have been taken over by the industry and they have been drained of the talent that they did have. Now I know anyone's argument for that would be "well, in Korea it's record labels that put bands together so how is that not artificial?" Yes this is true and anyone can have their own opinion about that but, when that happens the artist in the band go through years of training to become artist so instead of just picking up a kid who actually has potential of being a great artist and then draining them of that and just covering them up with autotune in Korea they would take those same people and actually trained them to their highest potential. And yes I am talking about pop music today and not 30 years ago when pop music was genuine and good because things like autotune didn't really exist. And there are also a ton of exceptions, like Bruno mars to an extent, justin timber lake, and many more but I was just trying to get at the point that Todd is being kinda hypocritical when saying that Kpop is all mindless and brainless when like any genre of music there's going to be good stuff and bad stuff. I would just have wish Todd would have been I little more open minded and done a little more digging in the Kpop genre because there are some great Kpop acts like Shinee, Super junior, and some single acts like G-dragon. I see now that the way I worded my last comment was wrong, but saying that there are only talented artists in Asia wasn't my intention.
Neener uhm, I guess I shoulda told you before or after that I was just kidding. Lol I get what you mean.
BlackSheepNara Well it's hard to tell when someone is joking because people can get so butthurt on the internet XD
***** I would agree. No genre of music is perfect.
Todd can make any song sound good on his piano.
From what I understand about the artist and some translations of the song I've fond, it is a song making fun of Korea's Gangam district, which is a very popular place to live due to the status that comes with it. People are more than willing to max out credit cards to live there and buy five dollar coffees to look like they are rich, but go home and eat cup noodle when they get home. So really from what I have seen this guy is the Korean Weird Al. Which is really kind of funny that he did so well in America.
Jesus any time I see old jokes about Trump I am like "Wow, we really shouldn't let shit like this fester, cause it gets bad"
"I mean come on, this isn't exactly Voltaire (either of them)."
What I like about this song/video/PSY making it big is the fact that is a parody of Korean (even Western) pop music and its videos.
I'm a fan of some Kpop groups (SNSD, Red Velvet, etc.), but all these people in the comments defending it and saying it's no more shallow than Western pop are willfully ignorant. It's way more manufactured, just train a bunch of kids to sing and dance on a mediocre level and send them out to sell, then make the next group. Give them bubbly love songs in the hope that they become popular. At least in the West most of the artists have some hand in the production of their songs, and they don't lip sync nearly as much. Also Kpop relies heavily on looks/beauty, more so than the West.
I can't help it, everytime I hear this song or see Psy on TV, I can't help but smile. He's just so comitted to the song that it makes a little happier inside.
If you watch the miracles video it is hard for anyone who is somewhat aware that their is not a bit of sarcasm implied, but sadly the song is for the most part just a piece of irony.
Years later and now a k-pop group won top social artist two years in a row and performed at the billboard music awards something psy didn't do selling out shows left and right in the west getting lots of girls dampening there panties and screaming like crazy yeah one direction had a lot of screaming fans they were loud but not as loud as BTS fans I will say that much and I've been to two one direction concerts and yeah I had to bring earplugs cuz I knew it was going to be loud but I probably have to bring really strong earplugs if I go to a BTS concert cuz really they are taking over the us right now and it's only a matter of time before groups like EXO Got7 Red Velvet name any other K-Pop group that's actually pretty big with the west right now getting that same attention all those groups I just mentioned a lot of western girls and guys actually like them so I won't be surprised but still and yeah girls literally scream so loud for these k-pop boy bands it's kind of hard to understand the music at least that's why I've heard from some people that actually have seen them live but thanks to successes like gangnam style k-pop is becoming way more freaking popular in the west it's only a matter of time before j-pop is next
It's "I Am The Best" by 2NE1.
I would like to see him do that one. He already ripped on several videos that are about guys that have gotten so big they don't need to respect women. Gentlemen's (even if you don't understand the lyrics) video is essentially that. Now whether that's Psy again making a joke, in this case about said songs todd has ripped on, then i'd be curious if todd ends up ripping on it or giving it respect. I guess it depends on todd's interpretation.
I understand that you don't agree with the mainstream korean pop singers, but there truly are better singers out there, we just have to utterly immerse ourselves in the culture to find them, just like everywhere else. Nowadays, you can rarely find good songs but they do exist and they are actually pretty good. You may not respect them for it but that doesn't mean you can simply generalize. It's like saying every asian artist is a Super Junior and every occidental artist a Justin Beiber
love the opening song
Maybe it was too obvious, but he forgot that a lot of the song's popularity can be accounted for by its insane appeal to millions of preschoolers.
Moskau, 99 Luftballons, Tunak Tunak Tun, Gangnam Style. Loke em up, they were all popular in the US at one point, and not one is in English,
It wasn't until I started dating a Korean girl that I found out that there are a LOT of Koreans who do NOT like PSY.
Not one bit.
hmm, i dunno, to me the song is catchy enough that I was pretty hooked for like a month. I think it was fun just because of what a ohenomenon it was, like you could play it on the radio out of a car and people would start doing the dance walking down the street.
Based on what little we have seen of his face, he probably looks more like Ray William Johnson than Tosh
I enjoy this song, and Friday. They're probably some of my biggest guilty pleasure songs.
This is the first Todd video I've ever seen.
The only reason why Kpop that we know is incredibly bland, insipid, & "dumb as hell" is because Kpop has began selling out this decade. Back in 90's & early to mid 2000's, kpop acts had relatively talented acts. I mean yeah, back then, it copies a lot from american pop music, but compared to other genres in asia, this genre along with Taiwanese Pop music (& arguably chinese) were the only genres of asian pop music compared to others out there that were actually shaking things up & pressing the envelope of asian pop music at the time. Eg. Lee Hyori's "10 Minutes", which is a song about how she can seduce a guy in 10 minutes.
Now thanks to the success of groups like Super Junior & their female protege Girls Generation (both groups that are steeped in asian-style-selling out), Kpop has since copied that formula & like the model of Girls Generation & Super Junior; have scaled down the standard for talent & began emphasizing the importance of appearance (asian style aesthetics for standard of "good looking"; guys being androgynous, & girls being flowery barbie girls).
As for Psy's background (which I felt Todd didn't go really in depth about, he wasn't very active during the old-school era of Kpop when Kpop actually emphasized talent, & when he was, he was equally controversial as he was successful. Despite the fact that he impressed his company with his flow, his record company initially refused to debut him because of his appearance, until one day they decided that he can be most marketable as a kooky rapper. Coming on the scene in 2001, he had three hits; his debut single "Birds", "The End", & "Champion". The first was especially controversial because of the use of profanity which was a sensitive issue in the korean media. Much of the mid to late 2000's, Psy was doing his mandatory military service (2003-2009), as a military entertainer releasing only one big hit in that time ("Entertainer"). After that, his next big hit would be "Gangnam Style".
Todd equating Psy as the korean F. Scott Fitzgerald is incorrect & only seems that way cuz Todd probably only began looking into Kpop at a time when Kpop has begun selling out. Pre-Gangnam-Style era Psy was actually notorious for doing things purposely to pissing people off; namely the higher ups in the entertainment industry, spending as much time in court from being sued as he does in the recording studio. Yeah, before "Gangnam Style", people didn't really like him. As a matter of fact, apparently this single was made to make fun of those very people who disliked him; & because it's also ironic because Psy is actually originally from that area he's making fun of.
I love this song. Deeply and unironically.
K-Pop is poplar solely because of the Korean language, which, compared to our Germanic English language, is punchy, excited, and fun. Therefore, great club tracks.
i think parodying this song islike carrying a seven foot styraphom buster sword it might look cool in youre head but has anybody ever looked cool doing it
I agree that Gangnam Style is fairly good comedy in its own right but I would not, as some people I know would, say it was clever OR a good song by any means!
Todd should review Harlem Shake now that people are comparing it to Gangnam Style.
Raise your hand if you listen to anime songs more than songs in English. Jojo songs are my favorite.
"clears throat" ..........................SONO CHINO SADAME! JOOOOOOOOOOOOOOJOOO!!!!!!!!
This song is fun in zumba.
My local club song station is playing two other of psy's songs now.
I don't know what any of this means. I guess he's popular now.
psy´s gandam style is like swedens magnus uggla. bizarre music videos and wierd texts. but im still lovening uggla:D psy is as though.
That's probably the most insulting thing someone could ever say.
Yeah, i may have squeed a little when that happened haha xx
2:39 oh my gosh the Guilty Pleasures song! *squeals*
This is what kicked of K-Pop in America. It’s this.
Naw, this wasn't it.
Most North Americans viewed Gangnam Style as the equivalent of the Macarena or the Hammy the Hamster dance.
It was a novelty, nothing more.
It was very quickly forgotten about.
Kpop became big when One Direction had the audacity to go on indefinite hiatus.
Every moronic 13 year old girl with too much babysitting money in her purse needed a new boy band to call their teddy-bear and BTS happened to be in the right place at the right time.
Since you know the Commentary somewhat."Gangham Style" is pretty much a very Goofy Version of "Club Tropicana" by Wham(Poor Kids trying to Bling and be Nouveau Riche,but Club Tropicana was about Kids on The Dole in Great Britain taking these Value pack Tropical Vacations)
This is honestly the most surprising video of his......
It's easy to mishear it as "Open condom style."
Psy already had 5 albums before gangnam style
@The Forgotten Companion wow. Fantastic baby. If that's the lyrics I know the song
The only thing I can say for Kpop idols is that a lot of them had to work really hard training and sacrifice a lot to be in the position they are in. Jo Kwon, I think took him like eight years of training before he was finally put in a group, isn't even that popular. Anyway that's just an example. The funny thing is that I'm not even that into Kpop in terms of listening to songs but I know a lot of people involved. I watch variety shows so I think that's they reason why...?
no, he had other songs, this was the only one popular enough to make it to the us. (besides gentleman, but thats just because his other song was so popular.)
Ooh, I liked the melody of this song. :(
Hahaha XD, I must admit that was funny but I didn't like that he has a purely Americanized view on everything. He hasn't even done any homework whatsoever on the background that the lyrics speaks about or the relevance of many attitudes from the oriental countries. Nothing, I really found his comments stereotyped and out fo place.
Well good or bad one thing about Gangnam Style we can agree on. It's better than Bieber.
My friends: what? Me: gangnam style is overrated! My friends: gasp!!! Me: are you seriously that surprised?
but, unlike Ray William Johnson, Todd is actually talented!!!!
Fucking Dobson is in this?!!WHAT THE HELL!?
It's like "*gibberish* EEEEEEE Macarena!"
was that the guilty pleasure song from NC's Moulin Rouge review.....
Hey he did the caramell dansen! awesome!
Haha I'm more surprised that Kpop netizens/sasaeng haven't reached this video to rip it apart. "Don't you touch our sacred Kpop or I'll get my Oppa to beat you up. Saranghae
LOL you gotta love the dance moves but the song WTF does it translate anyway HAHA.
This is probably the first time, I have hated one of Todd's videos. He clearly knows nothing of asian pop culture.
I love this song and vid:D
someone should see if they can look it and put it to carameldansen.
yes, yes it is. Not gangnam style, but look at how many views it has.
he chould do a video about our legend magnus uggla. the song i wanna hear he talk about is jag mår illa:)
The song has an English version.
*does gangnam style*
I guess I can understand that.
If I go to sleep with someone, and ask him what position he wants to be in, he'd better not say Gangnam style XP
well, there are some good kpop. like 8282 by davichi
to be frank, your piano version is better than HIS ORIGINAL SONG
Is the carameldansen! Now I need to watch that video without the song xD
he did the Caramelldansen dance "kindof"
Has Todd found Hyuna?
what was that other kpop song
you gotta go Johnny the rocker
Damn straight!
LINKARA!!!!!!!
Sorry...
We do not talk about that terrible movie with the racs.
Kpop is actually really good, this song just makes it look bad
Well at least we know he is not a Korean ^_^
Does anyone know the name of that anime? It looked kinda epic
At 5:48 what's the song playing in the background? I can't hear the lyrics that well to figure it out.
That would be the Studio Ghibli film "Pom Poko".
It is decidedly not epic... At least, if you consider a bunch of raccoons swinging their gigantic nutsacks at ebul logging companies is epic after an hour or so of boring history and culture lessons.
Which I most certainly don't.
hits don't need to be successful in the us to be hits
what did he get wrong? I don't know anything about Korea myself.
Kpop before kpop
me to
@rudorot65 that's the one. Thnx
@Lordgaraj "he may as well not even touch club shit" BULLSHIT! That's his job. If he wants to review it, He'll review it. Deal with that.
What is that racoon anime?
Carameldansen!
I still dont get why so many people like this song, its in Korean so i cant sing to it and it has a stupid dance to it, what's so great about it?
For other so bad it's good music see also Corey Feldman.
......>_> Um, I like that 2ne1 song.
If you have too much time, pls make a review of this:
Arash Feat. Sean Paul - She Makes Me Go
I know it is Dancehall, but please...
Um, at 6:46, is that K-Pop artist supposed to be dressed up like the Undertaker from WWE?
"Naega Je Jal Naga"
roughly translates to "I am the best" so the answer is yes. I don't know the WWE wrestler but it makes sense.
display-wallpapers.blogspot.com/2012/03/wwe-undertaker-wallpapers.html
This is the Undertaker of WWE fame.
do you know that that song is about? i do because it is in my language