An unexpected hit of the year has been Gangnam Style. This Korean video on YouTube has had more than half a billion showings.
Gangnam Style is a single by the South Korean rapper, Psy. It is sometimes erroneously referred to as "Gangster Style" and confused with gangster dance. Gangnam is a district of Seoul, the capital of Korea, the "Beverly Hills" of the city, and gangnam style is a Korean expression which refers to the supposed lifestyle of the Gangnam residents. The song is intended to poke fun at the people who aspire to this lifestyle. The song has been a world wide hit, and is the first Korean musician to make the number one spot in the UK.
What is most remarkable though is the rate at which Gangnam Style has been viewed on YouTube. Uploaded in July, it had more than 200 million hits in its first couple of months. By the first week of October, that number had climbed to 300 million, and at the time of writing it has been viewed 530 million times. That makes it the second most popular video on the YouTube service, having recently overtaken Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" which has 492,000 views since November 2009. Its still some way behind Justin Bieber's "Baby" video with almost 800,000 views since February 2010.
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