PSY AFP FILE PHOTO
SEOUL – South Korean rapper Psy is promising a “Psy style” take on a traditional Korean dance to accompany the release next week of the highly-anticipated follow-up to his global hit “Gangnam Style”.
The new single, titled “Gentleman”, comes out on April 12, and the 35-year-old star will promote it with a special concert the next day in the South Korean capital Seoul.
“I’ve been working and reworking on it continuously and I think the latest version will be the final one,” Psy told a local TV news programme on Monday.
“This is another very rousing song. Its title is ‘Gentleman’. The dance is one known to all Koreans but new to foreigners. This will be presented in Psy style,” he said.
After the Seoul concert, he will embark on a gruelling tour schedule of Europe and Asia in May and June.
Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-Sang, soared to global stardom after “Gangnam Style” — a satire of luxurious lifestyles in an affluent Seoul district — went viral on YouTube and topped charts worldwide.
The video, featuring his signature horse-riding dance, has clocked nearly 1. 5 billion views on the video-sharing site.
The singer has been awarded one of South Korea’s highest cultural honours, the Okgwan Order of Cultural Merit, and was performed last month at the inauguration ceremony of new president Park Geun-Hye.
In his interview, Psy forecast a long and bright future for the K-pop phenomenon which has become South Korea’s most high-profile cultural export in recent years.
“It will be only a matter of time before K-Pop will produce many others like Psy,” he said.