South Korean rap sensation Psy released his new album Tuesday, his first since the smash hit “Gangnam Style” catapulted him to worldwide fame. (Image : Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korean rap sensation Psy released his new album Tuesday, his first since the smash hit “Gangnam Style” catapulted him to worldwide fame.
The 37-year-old rapper’s seventh career album, “Chiljip Psy-da,” features a range of songs he claims to be most like himself, including two title songs — “Napal Baji,” which means flared pants, and “Daddy.”
By morning, the two songs swept local music charts, ranking first and second on Melon, Olleh Music, Genie and four others. “Dream,” a song dedicated to the deceased South Korean singer Shin Hae-chul, rose to the top spot on Bugs.’
“It took time to sort through the many boatmen in my head,” Psy said during a press conference here Monday, using a metaphor that’s the Korean equivalent of the saying, “Too many cooks spoil the broth.”
“Chiljip Psy-da,” which means “This is seventh album Psy,” is the singer’s first album in three years and five months.
“The weight of ‘Gangnam Style’ is so heavy that I don’t go to Gangnam much,” he said, referring to the affluent district in Seoul that inspired the hit song.
“There was a time when it was very easy to write songs,” the rapper added. “But at some point I began to think, ‘If I do this, it won’t be as good as Gangnam Style,’ or ‘If I do this, my foreign fans won’t be able to understand.’ Before I could even complete one or two phrases, there were lots of boatmen in my head.”
In his new music video shown at the press conference, Psy drew laughter from the audience with his dance moves, dressed in tacky flared pants, as another Psy in a child’s body seduced a woman.
“Ever since ‘Bird’ (his debut song), this was what I considered grade-A, high-end, my best,” he said, adding jokingly, “But the characteristics of my looks, dances and body made many people regard it as grade-B.”
From now on, Psy said he plans to accept the fact that different people have different tastes regarding his music and do what he likes, without paying too much attention to the outcome.
The music video for “Napal Baji” had 500,000 YouTube views in less than 10 hours after its release, while that of “Daddy” has passed surpassed the 1-million views mark.
Various foreign media outlets covered the news of the album’s release.
“Now the K-pop goofball is back with ‘Daddy,’ another slab of brash, synth-heavy K-pop and a video filled with outlandish costume changes and dance moves,” wrote Rolling Stone.
American rapper will.i.am. of the Black Eyed Peas exchanges raps with Psy in Korean and English in “ROCKnROLLBABY,” one of the songs on the new album.
Psy is scheduled to perform at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
(Yonhap)
