Psy was one of the few that initially introduced billions of people to K-pop music with "Gangnam Style". Released in July 2012, it was the first YouTube video that reached 1 billion views, and it finally reached 3 billion on November 26 at about 8AM KST.
This was three years after Gangnam Style "broke" YouTube for reaching 2,147,483,647 views, and two years Psy received the Diamond Play Button from YouTube for reaching 10 million subscribers on his official YouTube channel.
Gangnam Style reigned as number one on YouTube for about five straight years, but later lost that title. Gangnam Style was surpassed on the video hosting platform, becoming the third to reach the 3 billion mark after Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s “Despacito" and Wiz Khalifa and Charlie Puth’s "See You Again."
#GANGNAMSTYLE got 3 billion views!! THX#PSY #싸이 #강남스타일 #GANGNAMSTYLE #MV #3BILLION #YOUTUBE #YG pic.twitter.com/yDmyNQY431
— PSY (@psy_oppa) November 26, 2017
Gangnam Style phenomenon started almost immediately after the video was uploaded to YouTube.
The video features Psy as the singer dancing with his trademark style, appealing to many and also to jokes at the same time.
The combination of the two helped it become a serious smash in almost every nation on Earth, with multiple parodies, international coverage by media outlets, new records, and awards.
Before Gangnam Style, K-pop was typically reserved for those living in South Korea, and to some extent, to those nations close to it in Asia.
A K-pop act had never broken into Europe or the U.S. in a major way, with none had scored even as near as massive as Gangnam Style, that peaked at number 2 in America. It's also holding the title as one of the most successful track in U.S. history.
Gangnam Style is an electro-dance song, with a signature horse-riding dance made the quirky rapper and singer a global star.
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