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Gangnam Style

You might remember it as Psy Gangnam Style, horse dance video

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2012·The social era

The first video to a billion views and the moment non-Anglophone pop became globally default.

At a glanceThe facts

Remembered as
Psy Gangnam Style
Spread in
2012
Format
Video
Era
The social era
Performed by
Psy, with choreography by Lee Ju-sun
Record
Most-viewed video on YouTube from 24 November 2012 to 10 July 2017; first to a billion views
Origin
Origin not yet established
Available
Playable from the source

Why it matteredWhat changed

It was the first video on YouTube to be watched a billion times, and it was in Korean. It ended the assumption that the platform’s biggest hits would be in English, and held the most-viewed record for four and a half years.

TimelineIn order

  1. Posted

    YG Entertainment releases the song as the lead single of Psy’s sixth album. Psy later tells Reuters it was made only for K-pop fans at home.1

  2. Remixed

    A North Korean state website uploads a parody, “I’m Yushin style!”, mocking the South Korean presidential candidate Park Geun-hye.1

  3. Record

    It becomes the most-viewed video on YouTube, passing Justin Bieber’s Baby.1

  4. Record

    It becomes the first video on YouTube to reach one billion views.2

  5. Later

    It loses the most-viewed record to See You Again by Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth.1

What people misrememberSet straight

Commonly remembered asA song celebrating a rich neighbourhood.

ActuallyPsy said the title was a joke at the expense of posers who claim the lifestyle of Seoul’s Gangnam district. Only two scenes of the video were filmed in Gangnam itself.1

What it createdWhat came out of it

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RelatedMore like this

Records this one is explicitly related to — a copy, a remake, a parody, the same meme or the same maker.

Why it is here: something the internet still knows by name · a moment that changed what the internet did next · it got out of its own corner of the internet fast · still being watched and quoted years later

The version shown here is an official copy on YouTube, published by a rights holder.

Where it came fromWhat we know

Original source uncertain. This is the earliest copy currently known.

View the official copy on YouTube

No original upload has been established for this record. The index is showing the earliest copy it currently knows about, and says so rather than guessing.

More from 2012You were there

More from the social eraMore of the archive

ConnectedFollow it further

SourcesWhat was read

  1. Wikipedia — Gangnam Style
  2. CBS News — “Gangnam Style” first video to hit 1B YouTube views

Sources last read on . That date is about the history on this page. Whether the media still plays is checked separately and can change any day. How ViralWorld documents things

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