Cheers to PSY, the ‘Gentleman’
PSY, the biggest K-pop artist in the world, is aiming to duplicate the overwhelming and amazing success of his worldwide dance craze “Gangnam Style”. The Korean rapper hopes his newest single “Gentleman” will have the same charm and warm appeal that “Gangnam Style” had. While it is no easy task to match–much less surpass–the unbelievable popularity of his previous mega hit, the pressure on him isn’t that much since it was PSY who made that benchmark, so he comes out the winner even if he can’t beat his own record. It’s still a win-win situation because it was he himself who made that unprecedented record in the first place !
Even before I got to watch the music video, my expectations were naturally quite high as everyone else’s, am sure, that PSY can pull off another surefire winner here. While “Gentleman” is no doubt a dance anthem, there are a few obvious changes. First, the dance steps are much simpler. Unlike “Gangnam Style,” the famous “horse dance” has been replaced with a hip sway movement. Whether this new dance move for PSY will click with music lovers as the first one did is yet to be fully seen. We can’t give a guarantee on that, as the music video has only been on YouTube just recently. Some people are still processing whether they really like the music video and the song itself.
Second and most notably, much scatological humor is used which could put off a good segment of viewers. No doubt, all that silly humor is in the spirit of fun and just being able to poke fun at oneself for which PSY is clearly a master of, and pretty much known for. However, I think PSY, this time, didn’t only want to make another dance hit, he also wanted to amuse his fans with the things he can get away with. Watching Psy clowning around, pulling pranks, and just messing with random people is hilarious and proves he doesn’t take himself seriously at all. In fact, he seems to be having fun “watching” himself– misbehavin’ having fun–with his ridiculous and nutty antics. Looks like “Gentleman” could also be the “new anthem for “assh**** !”
PSY has gone the EDM route in “Gentleman” with more electronic based beats, drum samples, keyboard loops, and a frenetic energy that is a notch higher than was in “Gangnam Style”. Also, PSY has more overlapping vocals here and his rap verses are more fluid. If fans are looking for an exact duplicate or just another variation of “Gangnam Style,” they might not find that in “Gentleman”. But if they are just looking for a good time and a song that will surely make them forget their problems for a duration of 3:54 minutes to be exact, then “Gentleman” delivers the fun and amusement for almost everyone. The “Gentleman” music video also features the cameo returns of the Yellow-suit guy (Yoo JaeSuk) and Elevator humping guy (Noh Hongchul) from the “Gangnam Style” music video.
The curiosity alone to check this new music video is more than enough to bring in again the millions and millions of music lovers to watch “Gentleman.” Multiply those millions by the number of times many of them will be watching it again and again and again to get a good laugh–then, PSY runs off with another phenomenal win!
In the meantime, cheers to PSY, the “Gentleman!”
