page_title: Psy
section_title: 2012–13: "Gangnam Style" and unexpected international breakthrough
hierarchical_section_title: Psy / Music career / 2012–13: "Gangnam Style" and unexpected international breakthrough
caption_attribution_description: English: Psy meets UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon
context_page_description: Park Jae-sang, known professionally as Psy, is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage performances, and internationally for his hit single "Gangnam Style". The song's refrain was entered into The Yale Book of Quotations as one of the most famous quotations of 2012.
  On October 23, 2012, Psy met United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon at the UN Headquarters where Ban expressed his desire to work with the singer because of his "unlimited global reach". On December 21, 2012, his music video for "Gangnam Style" exceeded one billion views on YouTube, becoming the first video to do so in the website's history. Psy was subsequently recognized by the media as the "King of YouTube". On May 31, 2014, the video for Psy's Gangnam Style hit two billion views. As of December 2019, it is the seventh most viewed video on YouTube, with over 3.4 billion views.
  In December 2012, MTV noted Psy's rise from being little known outside South Korea, to being hailed as the "Viral Star of 2012".
context_section_description: 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. On August 14, "Gangnam Style" ranked first on YouTube's 'Most Viewed Videos' monthly chart; 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 was the first for a 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. The Gangnam Style phenomenon has also popularized his older music videos, such as "Right Now". 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. The following day, he also made a cameo appearance on Saturday Night Live during a skit featuring "Gangnam Style". Commenting on his popularity among foreign celebrities, Psy said:
  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."
  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. In early September, the Gangnam district awarded Psy with a plaque and named him an honorary ambassador. On October 24, 2012, Psy was recognized by the United Nations as an "International sensation". 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. 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".
  According to Korean newspaper The Dong-a Ilbo, Psy was appointed as a goodwill ambassador of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).
  On November 7, 2012, 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".
  On November 12, 2012, 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 The MDNA Tour. Psy later told reporters that his gig with Madonna had "topped his list of accomplishments".
  On November 24, 2012, "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. Psy later won four awards at the 2012 Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong on November 30, 2012. On December 21, 2012, "G
caption: U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon scheduled a meeting with Psy in the belief that music has great power to overcome intolerance.[45]
exif: {}