It's ironic that one of the biggest markets that many K-pop groups and stars has been trying to break for the last decade has been the United States of America. And a decade later, Park Jae-sang aka PSY was able to do that with his massive hit "Gangnam Style." The video is at almost one billion views on YouTube, has garnered international awards and has been performed at almost every important media outlet in the United States including the Jay Leno show.
But what most Americans and pretty much the rest of the world don't know is that the comical persona of PSY once used to be a very buoyant character. He rapped about topics not usually found within the K-pop universe. Instead of singing and or rapping about sugary bubble pop romances, he stepped outside those boundaries and had topics such as politics fill his lyrical creations.
In the K-pop group N.E.X.T.'s song "Dear American" he rapped:
Kll those fucking Yankees who have been torturing Iraqi captives
Kill those fucking Yankees who ordered them to torture
Kill their daughters, mothers, daughters-in-law and fathers
Kill them all slowly and painfully
The song was written and recorded in reaction to the beheading of a Korean missionary during 2004 a protest against the U.S. presence in Iraq. And now that this piece of new information about the K-pop star has been circulating today, it is undetermined how much of an effect it will have on his growing stardom.
With an upcoming performance this Sunday at the National Building Museum's Christmas in Washington Concert and president Obama in attendance, we'll see if what he rapped about eight years ago has made a mark on Obama and all of the other politicians in attendance.
Then again, this piece of bad press may not slow down the "Gangnam Style" madness; it may deter his dreams of wanting to show Obama how to do the horsey dance.