“Psy is a ready-made star.”—Billboard
The U.S music magazine Billboard hailed the singer Psy (Park, Jae-sang , 35) as a “ready-made star.”
In its latest issue on its Web site (Nov. 3), the magazine said featuring the singer’ debut in U.S.
"Having been schooled in the States (he briefly attended Boston University and Berklee College of Music), he knows enough English to navigate U.S. media; he has more than a decade of experience performing huge shows in Korea as a solo artist; and, at 34, he's business-minded enough to be able to make his own decisions without label micromanagement," the story said. "In essence, PSY came to America as a ready-made star," it analyzed.
The magazine said of the appraisal of Monte Lipman, the president/CEO of Republic Records, who signed Psy for an international album deal excluding Korea and Japan.
"I don't put him in the same category [as other K-pop artists]. I put PSY in the same category as some of the biggest acts in the world," Republic president/CEO Monte Lipman says. "PSY is a superstar. He's got that charisma, that sense of confidence and showmanship," he praised the Korean rapper.
Billboard also recounted how Psy came to sign a management contract with Scooter Braun, who discovered pop-stars Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepson.
As "Gangnam Style" approached 10 million YouTube views at the end of July, Scooter Braun tweeted a link to the video, writing: "HOW DID I NOT SIGN THIS GUY!?!??!" But, behind the scene, he was contacting the singer.
Braun offered him, “I want to sign you,” and he wanted to keep the song in Korean for the American market. And the singer was surprised, saying “You want to keep this in Korean?”
But soon Psy accepted the offer, saying “Why not?”
After signing with Braun, Billboard said, Psy garnered popularity with American audience by made his appearance on a series of top-rated show programs, the MTV Video Music Awards, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Today" and "Saturday Night Live.
"Gangnam Style" reached No. 2 on the Billboard singles (on the Hot 100) and broke the record with 500 million views on YouTube. “PSY finds himself the most globally famous Korean artist ever“ the magazine added.
The magazine concluded with Psy’s belief “what is most Korean is what is the most international.”
"Even if the cultures are different, a human being usually sees the same thing and feels a similar type of enjoyment," he says. "When you see Niagara Falls, you're going to feel the same thing. It's grand, and it's amazing. So, I think, what's already been proven and tested in Korea, will work here.
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It's amazing that the popularity of the song has only slowed a little. I wonder how he is going to follow this up, though. It's tough to get lightning to strike twice.
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