PSY Gangnam Style
Park Jae-sang (born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name PSY a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and record producer. PSY is best known for his humorous videos and stage performances, and for his international hit single "Gangnam Style", whose refrain "Oppan Gangnam Style" was entered into The Yale Book of Quotations as one of the most famous quotes of 2012. On October 23, 2012, PSY met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations Headquarters where Ban expressed his desire to work with the singer because of his "unlimited global reach". A few weeks later, Gangnam Style became the most accessed YouTube video of all time having generated almost a billion views, and PSY was subsequently recognized by the media as the "King of YouTube". In December 2012, MTV noted how PSY had risen from little-known to "global superstar", and hailed the singer as the Viral Star of 2012 for being first in the YouTube-era to secure a place in pop-culture history. Park Jae-sang, better known by his stage name PSY, was born on December 31, 1977 to an affluent family in the Gangnam District of Seoul, South Korea. His father, Park Won-Ho, is the executive chairman of DI Corporation, a manufacturer of semiconductors listed on the Korea Exchange. PSY attended Banpo Elementary School, Banpo Middle School, and Sehwa ( High School. He disliked going to school and annoyed some of his classmates, although sometimes he also made his classmates laugh. During an interview with South Korea's Seoul Broadcasting System, a former teacher of PSY remarked "I remember PSY making a lot of sexual jokes during class. He had such a big influence that he would drive the entire class to his jokes. I disliked him at the time, but looking back, he added a great energy to the class." Later on in his life, PSY told CNN's Alina Cho that when he was 15 years old, he had watched a Korean TV programme which introduced pop music from foreign countries. In one particular episode, he witnessed a concert held by the British rock band Queen while they were performing their 1975 hit single "Bohemian Rhapsody" at Wembley Stadium. PSY revealed that the footage of this concert had sparked off his love for music. 1996–2000: Arrival in the United States and career beginnings The Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts As part of preparations to take over DI Corporation from his father, PSY had originally planned to study business administration at Boston University in 1996. However, upon his arrival in the United States, he lost interest in his studies and spent his leftover tuition money on musical instruments and entertainment equipment, including a computer, an electric keyboard, and a MIDI interface.[14] After attending an English language summer course and briefly studying for one semester, PSY dropped out and applied to study at Berklee College of Music instead. During his time at Berklee, PSY took core curriculum lessons in ear training, contemporary writing and music synthesis, but he soon dropped out and returned to South Korea to pursue his career as a singer, without attaining a degree from either Boston University or Berklee. After returning to South Korea, PSY made his first appearance on Korean national television in 2000 after his dancing caught the eye of a TV producer. 2001–02: PSY from the PSYcho World!, controversy, and domestic success In January 2001, PSY debuted with his full-length album PSY from the PSYcho World!, for which he was fined by South Korean government authorities due to his album's "inappropriate content". PSY was a rookie hip-hop singer that stirred up the Korean pop music scene with very blunt lyrics, peculiar dance moves and an unconventional appearance that earned him the nickname "The Bizarre Singer". He released another controversial second album Sa 2 in 2002, which sparked complaints from concerned civil groups due to the potentially negative influence his album would have on children and teenagers. Since then, Psy has been thought of as a controversial artist, and Sa 2 was banned in 2002 from being sold to those under the age of 19. Later in September the same year, Psy released his third album 3 PSY. The album's title song, "Champion", saw great success partly due to the hype from the World Cup games held in Seoul. Despite the significant amount of controversy surrounding his music, PSY was awarded with songwriting accolades at the annually held Seoul Music Awards, which marked his breakthrough in the music industry of South Korea In 2003, PSY was enlisted in the South Korean military as part of mandatory military service imposed by the South Korean government on all males aged 18 to 35. As the government grants those with technical expertise to work in companies that serve national interests, PSY had evaded compulsory military duty by working at a software developing company, and was expected to be released from duties in 2005. In 2006, PSY released his 4th album Sa Jib, which won honors at the 2006 SBS Music Awards and the Mnet Asian Music Awards. In 2007, state prosecutors accused PSY of "neglecting" his work, choosing instead to hold concerts and appear on local television networks during his previous employment period. On October 12, 2007, the Seoul Administrative Court decided that PSY must be redrafted, and rejected a lawsuit filed by PSY against the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) earlier in August. PSY was re-drafted into the military 2 months later. During his time in the military, PSY held the rank of Private First Class and served as a signalman in South Korea's 52nd Army Infantry Division, before being released from duties in July 2009. In July 2012, PSY released his sixth album PSY 6 (Six Rules), Part 1 and the song "Gangnam Style" appeared in broadcasting networks and newspapers outside Asia.[38][39][40] On August 14, "Gangnam Style" ranked first on YouTube's 'Most Viewed Videos' monthly chart;[41] On August 21, 2012, "Gangnam Style" officially charted No. 1 on the iTunes Music Video Charts, overtaking Justin Bieber's "As Long as You Love Me" and Katy Perry's "Wide Awake"; this feat is the first for any South Korean artist. After the video went viral, celebrities quickly jumped on board with Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Tom Cruise taking to Twitter to share their delight.[42] The Gangnam Style phenomenon has also popularized his older music videos, such as "Right Now."[43] On September 14, 2012, he appeared on The Today Show on NBC in New York City, performing the song live and teaching dance moves to the anchors.[44] The following day, he also made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live during a skit featuring "Gangnam Style." “ "When I realized that some top stars like have imagined or tweeted about me, I thought, 'That’s joking. That’s not gonna happen...' I never expect things like this, not because they are top stars, but because this is the biggest market in the universe for pop music, right, so everybody’s dreaming about having appearance in the U.S. so I’m still saying, 'What going on here? This is beautiful.'"[45] ” Riding high on the success of Gangnam Style, PSY was signed by Scooter Braun to Braun's Schoolboy Records, a label distributed by Republic Records.[46] In early September, the Gangnam district awarded Psy with a plaque and named him an honorary ambassador.[47] On October 24, 2012, PSY was recognized by the United Nations as an "International sensation."[48] According to Reuters, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon scheduled a meeting with PSY in the belief that music has great power to overcome intolerance.[37] On October 23, 2012, they met at the United Nations Headquarters where Ban expressed his desire to work with PSY. He remarked that PSY has an "unlimited global reach" and said, "I hope that we can work together using your global reach."[2] According to Korean newspaper The Dong-a Ilbo, PSY was appointed as a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).[49] On November 7, PSY held a speech in England at the Oxford Union to discuss the inspiration behind Gangnam Style and his next album. He told the audience that due to the success of Gangnam Style he is now living in both a dream and a nightmare, as it will be difficult for his next song to equal Gangnam Style's success. He also talked about his early life and the moment he realized Gangnam Style became famous. According to The Independent, tickets for his speech were "in such demand they had to be assigned by ballot – a method not required when former presidential candidate John McCain spoke earlier that year, nor when Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama nor Michael Jackson spoke."[50] On November 12, PSY became the second South Korean music artist to appear at the MTV Europe Music Awards where he performed Gangnam Style and held off competition from Rihanna, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga to win the "Best Video" award. The event was broadcast worldwide and hosted by the German model and actress Heidi Klum, who introduced PSY to the audience as the "undisputed King of Pop". A few days later, American singer-songwriter Madonna performed a mashup of "Gangnam Style" and "Give It 2 Me" alongside PSY and her backup dancers during a concert in New York City at Madison Square Garden during her MDNA Tour. PSY later told reporters that his gig with Madonna had "topped his list of accomplishments." In November 2012, Psy's success via the Internet was honoured with the New Media award at the American Music Awards. On November 24, "Gangnam Style" became the most viewed video in YouTube history, surpassing the previous most watched video, Justin Bieber's "Baby". The number of views were achieved about eleven times faster than Bieber's. On November 30, PSY won four awards at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong. He met actor and stunt performer Jackie Chan, who called him a role model that proved that "dreams do come true". Artistry Influences According to TIME, PSY stated that Freddie Mercury of the British rock band Queen had inspired him to start his music career. PSY also revealed that the one celebrity he wants to meet most is the American actor Tom Cruise, who recently asked on Twitter if PSY would "make a good future co-star Gangnam Style?" PSY is known for his sense of humor in his concerts, where he imitates female singers such as Park Ji-yoon, Lee Hyori, Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Although his music is part of the K-pop (Korean popular music) genre, Beth Hong from The Vancouver Observer noted that PSY "doesn't fit the standard K-pop idol image of being incredibly young, good-looking, and able to carry a melodramatic note." Lucy Williamson from the BBC recognized PSY as South Korea's "newest and biggest music star", but also described him as "unpolished, unpredictable and he doesn't look like your typical Korean idol". Sarah Charlton from Reuters called him a "chubby South Korean pop singer" that has found fame and popularity in a "sea of pretty K-pop stars". In South Korea, some have called him the "Bizarre Singer"[66] while others consider him to be "the antithesis of what is popular in Korean pop music". Chelsea Handler from Chelsea Lately described Psy as "Korea's Ricky Martin, as well as a sex symbol" during his introduction on the show] while Gil Kaufman from MTV described the singer as one of the "biggest pop sensations in the world. According to Hugo Swire, the British Minister of State for the Foreign Office, PSY’s music has given the world a glimpse of the dynamism and vibrancy of modern Korea.[69] The United Nations' news division wrote that PSY has become an "international sensation" through his song "Gangnam Style", a sentiment also shared by the American space agency NASA which called him an "international pop sensation", adding that PSY's "Gangnam Style" has forever entered the hearts and minds of millions of people. The Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek remarked about how thousands of people have been copying PSY's dance moves and calling him "Messiah". As a result of his worldwide popularity, South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized PSY's cultural achievements by bestowing upon him the Okgwan Order, a 4th grade Order of Cultural Merit. Reported earnings The American news agency Associated Press reported that PSY is set to "become a millionaire" from YouTube advertisements and iTunes downloads, which underlines a shift in how money is being made in the music business. As the cost of music downloads in South Korea amounted to less than US$0.0002 per song in 2012 and PSY received 7.5 percent of every purchase, or US$0.00015 per song, he earned a total of US$61,000 from downloads and streams of "Gangnam Style" in his home country. The bulk of PSY's earnings, however, originate from other sources such as TV commercials and YouTube revenue, the latter generating almost US$1 million for 33,000 parodies and related videos identified in September 2012 by YouTube's identification system for using "Gangnam Style" in its content. In total, the Associated Press estimated that PSY will rake in at least US$8.1 million for 2012. Anti-American performances and subsequent apology In 2002, PSY participated in an anti-American concert after a U.S. military convoy struck and killed two 14-year-old South Korean schoolgirls during the Yangju highway incident. The soldiers involved in the incident were acquitted by U.S. military courts,[83] which fueled a significant amount of anti-American sentiment in South Korea. During his performance, PSY lifted up a model of an M2 Bradley IFV and smashed it against the stage. In 2004, the South Korean translator and Christian missionary Kim Sun-il was kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq after the South Korean government refused to reconsider sending its armed forces to support the Iraq War. Although initial protests were only directed towards the South Korean government and towards extremists in Iraq, anti-U.S. military protesters decided to seize the moment to trigger a much larger wave of anti-Americanism. During a concert, PSY admonished the Iraqi kidnappers, condemned South Korea's former president Roh Mu-hyun, and also sang along to lyrics of the song "Dear American" by South Korean rock band N.EX.T, who composed it to condemn the United States and its military for its role in the Iraq war. Some of these lyrics have been translated as follows: "Kill those fucking Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives and those who ordered them to torture," and "Kill [the Yankees'] daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers / Kill them all slowly and painfully. Although PSY's actions did not receive any significant international media coverage at that time, this changed after the media reported about it in early December 2012. On December 7, 2012, PSY issued an apology directed towards members of the U.S. military and to the American people for his "inflammatory and inappropriate" language, and expressed hope that the American public will accept his apology. Despite initial public outrage, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told the media that U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will attend PSY's performance at the Christmas in Washington charity concert as planned.[89] As a result of PSY's controversial lyrics, a petition circulated on the website of the White House demanding that he be dropped from the concert, although the petition was deleted later in the day because the White House website claimed that the petition violated the website's terms of participation. Time magazine's Nick Carbone asserted that it is "unlikely that these newly dug-up anecdotes will depose PSY from his king-like level of stardom" although Carbone did go on to write that the atmosphere at the White House concert would be "somewhat subdued. A few days later questions were raised about the accuracy of the translation of the lyrics into English, which originated from CNN's citizen journalism initiative iReport. Max Fisher of the Washington post foreign staff reported that it was unclear whether the lyrics specified killing family members of American servicemen who participated in torture or if the song accuses American servicemen of killing Iraqi civilians. Fisher also states that the word translated 'Yankee' in the CNN iReport was underplayed, being a "harsh" racial slur literally translated as 'big nose.
Gangnam Style
Park Jae-sang (born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name PSY a South Korean singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, and record producer. PSY is best known for his humorous videos and stage performances, and for his international hit single "Gangnam Style", whose refrain "Oppan Gangnam Style" was entered into The Yale Book of Quotations as one of the most famous quotes of 2012. On October 23, 2012, PSY met UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations Headquarters where Ban expressed his desire to work with the singer because of his "unlimited global reach". A few weeks later, Gangnam Style became the most accessed YouTube video of all time having generated almost a billion views, and PSY was subsequently recognized by the media as the "King of YouTube". In December 2012, MTV noted how PSY had risen from little-known to "global superstar", and hailed the singer as the Viral Star of 2012 for being first in the YouTube-era to secure a place in pop-culture history. Park Jae-sang, better known by his stage name PSY, was born on December 31, 1977 to an affluent family in the Gangnam District of Seoul, South Korea. His father, Park Won-Ho, is the executive chairman of DI Corporation, a manufacturer of semiconductors listed on the Korea Exchange. PSY attended Banpo Elementary School, Banpo Middle School, and Sehwa ( High School. He disliked going to school and annoyed some of his classmates, although sometimes he also made his classmates laugh. During an interview with South Korea's Seoul Broadcasting System, a former teacher of PSY remarked "I remember PSY making a lot of sexual jokes during class. He had such a big influence that he would drive the entire class to his jokes. I disliked him at the time, but looking back, he added a great energy to the class." Later on in his life, PSY told CNN's Alina Cho that when he was 15 years old, he had watched a Korean TV programme which introduced pop music from foreign countries. In one particular episode, he witnessed a concert held by the British rock band Queen while they were performing their 1975 hit single "Bohemian Rhapsody" at Wembley Stadium. PSY revealed that the footage of this concert had sparked off his love for music. 1996–2000: Arrival in the United States and career beginnings The Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts As part of preparations to take over DI Corporation from his father, PSY had originally planned to study business administration at Boston University in 1996. However, upon his arrival in the United States, he lost interest in his studies and spent his leftover tuition money on musical instruments and entertainment equipment, including a computer, an electric keyboard, and a MIDI interface.[14] After attending an English language summer course and briefly studying for one semester, PSY dropped out and applied to study at Berklee College of Music instead. During his time at Berklee, PSY took core curriculum lessons in ear training, contemporary writing and music synthesis, but he soon dropped out and returned to South Korea to pursue his career as a singer, without attaining a degree from either Boston University or Berklee. After returning to South Korea, PSY made his first appearance on Korean national television in 2000 after his dancing caught the eye of a TV producer. 2001–02: PSY from the PSYcho World!, controversy, and domestic success In January 2001, PSY debuted with his full-length album PSY from the PSYcho World!, for which he was fined by South Korean government authorities due to his album's "inappropriate content". PSY was a rookie hip-hop singer that stirred up the Korean pop music scene with very blunt lyrics, peculiar dance moves and an unconventional appearance that earned him the nickname "The Bizarre Singer". He released another controversial second album Sa 2 in 2002, which sparked complaints from concerned civil groups due to the potentially negative influence his album would have on children and teenagers. Since then, Psy has been thought of as a controversial artist, and Sa 2 was banned in 2002 from being sold to those under the age of 19. Later in September the same year, Psy released his third album 3 PSY. The album's title song, "Champion", saw great success partly due to the hype from the World Cup games held in Seoul. Despite the significant amount of controversy surrounding his music, PSY was awarded with songwriting accolades at the annually held Seoul Music Awards, which marked his breakthrough in the music industry of South Korea In 2003, PSY was enlisted in the South Korean military as part of mandatory military service imposed by the South Korean government on all males aged 18 to 35. As the government grants those with technical expertise to work in companies that serve national interests, PSY had evaded compulsory military duty by working at a software developing company, and was expected to be released from duties in 2005. In 2006, PSY released his 4th album Sa Jib, which won honors at the 2006 SBS Music Awards and the Mnet Asian Music Awards. In 2007, state prosecutors accused PSY of "neglecting" his work, choosing instead to hold concerts and appear on local television networks during his previous employment period. On October 12, 2007, the Seoul Administrative Court decided that PSY must be redrafted, and rejected a lawsuit filed by PSY against the Military Manpower Administration (MMA) earlier in August. PSY was re-drafted into the military 2 months later. During his time in the military, PSY held the rank of Private First Class and served as a signalman in South Korea's 52nd Army Infantry Division, before being released from duties in July 2009. In July 2012, PSY released his sixth album PSY 6 (Six Rules), Part 1 and the song "Gangnam Style" appeared in broadcasting networks and newspapers outside Asia.[38][39][40] On August 14, "Gangnam Style" ranked first on YouTube's 'Most Viewed Videos' monthly chart;[41] On August 21, 2012, "Gangnam Style" officially charted No. 1 on the iTunes Music Video Charts, overtaking Justin Bieber's "As Long as You Love Me" and Katy Perry's "Wide Awake"; this feat is the first for any South Korean artist. After the video went viral, celebrities quickly jumped on board with Katy Perry, Britney Spears, and Tom Cruise taking to Twitter to share their delight.[42] The Gangnam Style phenomenon has also popularized his older music videos, such as "Right Now."[43] On September 14, 2012, he appeared on The Today Show on NBC in New York City, performing the song live and teaching dance moves to the anchors.[44] The following day, he also made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live during a skit featuring "Gangnam Style." “ "When I realized that some top stars like have imagined or tweeted about me, I thought, 'That’s joking. That’s not gonna happen...' I never expect things like this, not because they are top stars, but because this is the biggest market in the universe for pop music, right, so everybody’s dreaming about having appearance in the U.S. so I’m still saying, 'What going on here? This is beautiful.'"[45] ” Riding high on the success of Gangnam Style, PSY was signed by Scooter Braun to Braun's Schoolboy Records, a label distributed by Republic Records.[46] In early September, the Gangnam district awarded Psy with a plaque and named him an honorary ambassador.[47] On October 24, 2012, PSY was recognized by the United Nations as an "International sensation."[48] According to Reuters, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon scheduled a meeting with PSY in the belief that music has great power to overcome intolerance.[37] On October 23, 2012, they met at the United Nations Headquarters where Ban expressed his desire to work with PSY. He remarked that PSY has an "unlimited global reach" and said, "I hope that we can work together using your global reach."[2] According to Korean newspaper The Dong-a Ilbo, PSY was appointed as a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).[49] On November 7, PSY held a speech in England at the Oxford Union to discuss the inspiration behind Gangnam Style and his next album. He told the audience that due to the success of Gangnam Style he is now living in both a dream and a nightmare, as it will be difficult for his next song to equal Gangnam Style's success. He also talked about his early life and the moment he realized Gangnam Style became famous. According to The Independent, tickets for his speech were "in such demand they had to be assigned by ballot – a method not required when former presidential candidate John McCain spoke earlier that year, nor when Mother Teresa, the Dalai Lama nor Michael Jackson spoke."[50] On November 12, PSY became the second South Korean music artist to appear at the MTV Europe Music Awards where he performed Gangnam Style and held off competition from Rihanna, Katy Perry and Lady Gaga to win the "Best Video" award. The event was broadcast worldwide and hosted by the German model and actress Heidi Klum, who introduced PSY to the audience as the "undisputed King of Pop". A few days later, American singer-songwriter Madonna performed a mashup of "Gangnam Style" and "Give It 2 Me" alongside PSY and her backup dancers during a concert in New York City at Madison Square Garden during her MDNA Tour. PSY later told reporters that his gig with Madonna had "topped his list of accomplishments." In November 2012, Psy's success via the Internet was honoured with the New Media award at the American Music Awards. On November 24, "Gangnam Style" became the most viewed video in YouTube history, surpassing the previous most watched video, Justin Bieber's "Baby". The number of views were achieved about eleven times faster than Bieber's. On November 30, PSY won four awards at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong. He met actor and stunt performer Jackie Chan, who called him a role model that proved that "dreams do come true". Artistry Influences According to TIME, PSY stated that Freddie Mercury of the British rock band Queen had inspired him to start his music career. PSY also revealed that the one celebrity he wants to meet most is the American actor Tom Cruise, who recently asked on Twitter if PSY would "make a good future co-star Gangnam Style?" PSY is known for his sense of humor in his concerts, where he imitates female singers such as Park Ji-yoon, Lee Hyori, Lady Gaga and Beyonce. Although his music is part of the K-pop (Korean popular music) genre, Beth Hong from The Vancouver Observer noted that PSY "doesn't fit the standard K-pop idol image of being incredibly young, good-looking, and able to carry a melodramatic note." Lucy Williamson from the BBC recognized PSY as South Korea's "newest and biggest music star", but also described him as "unpolished, unpredictable and he doesn't look like your typical Korean idol". Sarah Charlton from Reuters called him a "chubby South Korean pop singer" that has found fame and popularity in a "sea of pretty K-pop stars". In South Korea, some have called him the "Bizarre Singer"[66] while others consider him to be "the antithesis of what is popular in Korean pop music". Chelsea Handler from Chelsea Lately described Psy as "Korea's Ricky Martin, as well as a sex symbol" during his introduction on the show] while Gil Kaufman from MTV described the singer as one of the "biggest pop sensations in the world. According to Hugo Swire, the British Minister of State for the Foreign Office, PSY’s music has given the world a glimpse of the dynamism and vibrancy of modern Korea.[69] The United Nations' news division wrote that PSY has become an "international sensation" through his song "Gangnam Style", a sentiment also shared by the American space agency NASA which called him an "international pop sensation", adding that PSY's "Gangnam Style" has forever entered the hearts and minds of millions of people. The Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek remarked about how thousands of people have been copying PSY's dance moves and calling him "Messiah". As a result of his worldwide popularity, South Korea's Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism recognized PSY's cultural achievements by bestowing upon him the Okgwan Order, a 4th grade Order of Cultural Merit. Reported earnings The American news agency Associated Press reported that PSY is set to "become a millionaire" from YouTube advertisements and iTunes downloads, which underlines a shift in how money is being made in the music business. As the cost of music downloads in South Korea amounted to less than US$0.0002 per song in 2012 and PSY received 7.5 percent of every purchase, or US$0.00015 per song, he earned a total of US$61,000 from downloads and streams of "Gangnam Style" in his home country. The bulk of PSY's earnings, however, originate from other sources such as TV commercials and YouTube revenue, the latter generating almost US$1 million for 33,000 parodies and related videos identified in September 2012 by YouTube's identification system for using "Gangnam Style" in its content. In total, the Associated Press estimated that PSY will rake in at least US$8.1 million for 2012. Anti-American performances and subsequent apology In 2002, PSY participated in an anti-American concert after a U.S. military convoy struck and killed two 14-year-old South Korean schoolgirls during the Yangju highway incident. The soldiers involved in the incident were acquitted by U.S. military courts,[83] which fueled a significant amount of anti-American sentiment in South Korea. During his performance, PSY lifted up a model of an M2 Bradley IFV and smashed it against the stage. In 2004, the South Korean translator and Christian missionary Kim Sun-il was kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq after the South Korean government refused to reconsider sending its armed forces to support the Iraq War. Although initial protests were only directed towards the South Korean government and towards extremists in Iraq, anti-U.S. military protesters decided to seize the moment to trigger a much larger wave of anti-Americanism. During a concert, PSY admonished the Iraqi kidnappers, condemned South Korea's former president Roh Mu-hyun, and also sang along to lyrics of the song "Dear American" by South Korean rock band N.EX.T, who composed it to condemn the United States and its military for its role in the Iraq war. Some of these lyrics have been translated as follows: "Kill those fucking Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives and those who ordered them to torture," and "Kill [the Yankees'] daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers / Kill them all slowly and painfully. Although PSY's actions did not receive any significant international media coverage at that time, this changed after the media reported about it in early December 2012. On December 7, 2012, PSY issued an apology directed towards members of the U.S. military and to the American people for his "inflammatory and inappropriate" language, and expressed hope that the American public will accept his apology. Despite initial public outrage, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told the media that U.S. President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama will attend PSY's performance at the Christmas in Washington charity concert as planned.[89] As a result of PSY's controversial lyrics, a petition circulated on the website of the White House demanding that he be dropped from the concert, although the petition was deleted later in the day because the White House website claimed that the petition violated the website's terms of participation. Time magazine's Nick Carbone asserted that it is "unlikely that these newly dug-up anecdotes will depose PSY from his king-like level of stardom" although Carbone did go on to write that the atmosphere at the White House concert would be "somewhat subdued. A few days later questions were raised about the accuracy of the translation of the lyrics into English, which originated from CNN's citizen journalism initiative iReport. Max Fisher of the Washington post foreign staff reported that it was unclear whether the lyrics specified killing family members of American servicemen who participated in torture or if the song accuses American servicemen of killing Iraqi civilians. Fisher also states that the word translated 'Yankee' in the CNN iReport was underplayed, being a "harsh" racial slur literally translated as 'big nose.
Gangnam Style 