joel yap – PSY

December 9, 2018

Literary Analysis – Joel Yap

Literary Analysis- Joel Yap

Shortly after release, “Psy”’s Gangnam Style took the world by storm, subsequently breaking the YouTube record number of views for a single video at the time. Although the popular music video was able to resonate with audiences worldwide, it retains certain elements that distinguish it as distinctly Korean. As written in Hee-Eun Lee’s Koreanness in K-pop, such distinct elements can be traced back through the history of K-pop, and how globalization and modernization continue to impact the development of Korean music.

In Lee’s writing, the importance of the presentation of music through music videos is emphasized. Traditionally, cultural context has played an important role in the reception of music, however, with music videos there is a “disengagement from contexts” (24)¹. Essentially, music videos present much more than just an audio track with lyrics to an audience, which provides the artist with a multitude of ways by which they can express themselves.

Lee writes that the “performance appears visually global, while their Korean lyrics and vocal effects are acoustically local” (11-12)². In the Gangnam Style video, the most obvious feature is “Psy’s” now instantly recognizable dance move. Despite a global audience most likely not being able to understand the majority of the (limited) lyrics, other elements within the video work to retain their interest.

As a result, although the song is mostly in Korean and centered around a single area in Seoul, it was still able to garner a large international audience. It closely follows Lee’s writing that k-pop cultivates “mediation of global and local”(29-30)³.

Lee Hee-Eun, “Seeking the “others” within us: Discourses of Korean-ness in Korean popular music” in Medi@sia:Global media/tion in and out of context (London, Routeledge, 2006)
, 138
, 139

December 9, 2018

Video analysis – Joel Yap

Video Analysis- Joel Yap

“Psy”’s Gangnam Style was an international success, breaking the YouTube record number of views upon its release, and making “Psy” into a household name globally. It serves as an example as to how the hybridization of Western and Korean influence can work in sync to produce content that is appreciated globally. Gangnam Style’s music video heavily incorporates dancing, which can be in part attributed to its global success. The role that YouTube had in the success of Gangnam Style cannot be understated, and is the primary means by which it was disseminated globally.

Although “Psy” is not considered as a typical K-pop artist, in 2011 he was signed under YG entertainment (one of the largest music producers in k-pop) to utilize their global fan base¹. Previously, “Psy” as an artist was considered by many to be at odds with k-pop, due to his “blunt lyrics, bizarre dance, and ridiculous performance”². His appearance is also atypical of a what has become the norm in k-pop; “Psy” is generally viewed as having an unattractive face, and a “plump body”³. His signing by YG entertainment meant that the production of Gangnam Style would more closely follow the typical formula for success that the large Korean producers employ. On aggregate, the music videos produced by SM Entertainment, YG Entertainment and JYP Entertainment garner the highest number of views for K-pop videos⁴. As such, the influence of YG Entertainment on the production of Gangnam Style likely attributed in part to its global success.

Gangnam Style also incorporates many textual hooks via which it’s audience can appreciate, follow along, and replicate. In this case, “an easy-to-follow song with an addictive electronic riff and repeated lyrics, a unique and funny dance, ridiculous characters and comic setups, and a satirical message”⁵ all contribute to an experience that a global audience can relate to. This can be reflected in its general success, and the thousands of parody/cover videos that were created in response to Gangnam Style. The signature horse riding dance that “Psy” employs throughout the video became a phenomenon in itself, spawning its own series of dance covers. The song closely follows the formula utilized by the major production companies in Korea, whereby artist “utilize repetitive versus and choruses primarily written in English or English mixed with Korean to target young generations who seek entertainment embedded in new media”⁶. Although not done to an elaborate extent, Gangnam Style does have several English phrases which are repeated throughout the music video.

Another aspect of the reception of Gangnam Style was the “mishearing” of the lyrics, confusing “Oppan Gangnam Style” with “Open Condom Style”⁷. Such mishaps actually helped further promote the song in some markets, by breaking what would otherwise be a language barrier, and even serving to fuel the creating of more cover videos.

The music video also serves to convey “Psy’s” satirical portrayal of the Gangnam area in Seoul, whereby he utilizes different scenery and his ridiculous outfits and dance moves to create a parody. The videography throughout the music video is typical of that within the k-pop industry, with the camera maintaining a strong and close focus on the idol, in this case, “Psy”.

Gangnam Style goes beyond being just a music video, its record breaking views on YouTube set the stage for non-Western artists to utilize the platform to enhance their global viewership. The different elements within the video come together to create a cohesive package that can be appreciated by a global audience, yet is instantly recognizable as being part of the k-pop genre.

Jung Sookeung, “Global Production, Circulation, and Consumption of Gangnam Style,” International Journal of Communication 8, 2014: 2790-2810. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2966/1254
Dal Yong Jin & Woonjae Ryo (2014) Critical Interpretation of Hybrid K-pop: The Global-Local Paradigm of English Mixing in Lyrics, Popular Music and Society, 37:2, 113-131, DOI 10.1080/03007766.2012.731721
Jung Sookeung, “Global Production, Circulation, and Consumption of Gangnam Style,” International Journal of Communication 8, 2014: 2790-2810. https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/2966/1254

November 2, 2018November 2, 2018

Cover video reflection – Joel Yap

The process by which we created our cover video project provided an experience that I thought allowed us to envision what it would be like to actually create a k-pop music video. At the beginning of this class, I had very little knowledge about k-pop, let alone the huge production behind the music videos that this industry produces. As such, the only few k-pop artists I had been exposed to were those who had made an impact overseas, like Psy.

A big concern of mine before we had even chosen which video we were going to cover was my lack of dancing talent. It was around this time that it became very apparent to me how talented every k-pop performer is; whether that be in singing or in dancing. This lead to our group choosing a less dance-intensive song, which everybody in our group was somewhat familiar with.

In making our video, we analyzed the music video and decided which scenes we could replicate, and others that would be too difficult. In Psy’s Hangover, most of the scenes are not too graphic intensive, and are not reliant on too many props; which we considered to be a good thing. One of the scenes features Psy surrounded by hundreds of soju bombs; while we considered recreating this, we quickly realized that the difficulty of setting it up and getting the perfect take would prove too difficult and time consuming.

Overall, making this cover video brought to light how difficult it actual is to produce a real music video. Working with other group members who had a more consolidated knowledge of k-pop also added to the experience.

Joel Yap

October 23, 2018

Discussion #4

2) Consider the role of television (as compared to other media devices) in your daily consumption and perception of popular culture, in comparison to that of the presence of television and its implications on the direction of contemporary popular culture in South Korea as suggested by Kim Suk-young in chapter 2.

In chapter two of her book, Kim Suk-young writes about the role that TV has played in the presentation of media. Initially, TV was envisioned as a media platform which could deliver a theatre like performance in the comfort of one’s home. As one might expect, cable TV at the time it was introduced was extremely popular, and continued to grow during the late 80’s into the 90’s with the introduction of colored broadcasts.

At the time of their inception, there were three major broadcasting companies in Korea which each had their own tv music chart programs. These programs focused not only on the music, but the visuals as well, allowing for fans to put both the image and voices of their favorite artists together. In Western culture, this can be likened to MTV, and the music billboard. A stark difference however, is that in Korea these TV broadcasters today, still retain some control over the music industry despite the vast new ways to consume media.

That is to say, we no longer need to watch TV to get the experience of watching our favorite music videos, or figure out who the most popular artists currently are. Instead, we have the availability of programs such as Vevo, Youtube or any other website online that allows us to stream uploaded content. Instead of listening to music that is “popular”, clever software built into applications such as Apple Music and Spotify look at our preferences and personalize a list of recommendations. Such advances in the distribution of music media would lead one to question how the same TV producers in Korea still retain a lot of power.

As explained in Kim’s book, music producers still try and kowtow to the individuals in charge of the selection of which artists will be put on TV broadcasts. Despite all the other media outlets available today, these TV broadcasts still remain essential to the k-pop industry. This is explained by circumstances within the k-pop industry; the star system used by entertainment companies, and the “manufactured nature of popularity by various media forces”. A balance exists now, where entertainment companies allow their biggest starts to perform on TV shows, in exchange for the same TV broadcaster to present some of their lesser known performers.

Even though these shows do not draw in massive audiences, the time and effort (usually 24 hours goes into putting together a 5 minute video) is worthwhile because this content is usually pushed to other online platforms which would generate more views.

It is interesting to imagine that TV broadcasts would remain important in Korea, but have for the most part gone extinct in Western entertainment culture. I can’t remember the last time I saw a music video on the TV. It seems to me that in the k-pop industry, most of the control over the production of music remains in the hands of the media and production companies, and less so that of the artists, especially when compared to the Western frame work.

Kim, Suk-Young. K-pop Live: Fans, Idols, and Multimedia Performance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2018. Kindle.