Talk about a hard act to follow: Korean rapper Psy
broke the billion mark on YouTube in 2012 with his viral smash "Gangnam
Style." Now, he's finally taken the plunge and introduced his follow-up,
a single called "Gentleman" which was released globally Friday.
Psy's original intent was to debut the song in his native South
Korea, and then the rest of the world a day later. But he isn't known as
the "King of YouTube" for nothing--the song was leaked and spread
faster than one could say "Oppa."
Of course, the question on everyone's mind is, does the new tune
gallop like "Gangnam"? General consensus around the Web is that Psy
hasn't strayed far from what worked (very well) for him. "Gentleman" has
a driving beat, a repeated catchphrase ("mother father gentleman"), and
Korean words that will doubtlessly have nonspeakers scratching their
heads.
Is this repetition of sorts a good thing? Critical reviews are mixed, with the expected cheerful-to-grumpy spectrum . The BBC calls the new tune "formulaic"; while Fuse counters that it's "oh-so-danceable" and
MTV raves about its "floor-shattering" drive. The
Associated Press optimistically observes that at least the song is "stealing attention from inter-Korean tensions."
Fan reviews were predictably mixed as well, ranging on Twitter from
"It's great," "Catchy" and even "Brilliant" to "Ugggh," "Let-down," and
"Not really unique."
Those who got their groove on learning Psy's horse dance last year
will be happy to know that there's yet another signature dance for
"Gentleman," although we'll have to wait one more day for the official
video to come out to see that.
"The dance is one known to all Koreans but new to foreigners," Psy
explained earlier this month. He'll reportedly unveil the moves during
his sold-out concert in Seoul on Saturday.
Social Plugin