What do you do when you write the greatest viral hit ever and create a cultural sensation that infects all corners of the world zeitgeist? If you’re South Korean rapper PSY, you retire. At least from “Gangnam Style.”
The atmospheric reign of the biggest song of 2012 is soon coming to a close, and PSY gets to be one of those rare celebrities that retires his own hit, reports Rolling Stone .
“Being in Times Square on New Year’s Eve is already special – it’s the biggest stage in the universe – plus it’s my birthday, so, with all that, it may be the ending of ‘Gangnam Style,’” said Psy. “I mean, what better way to do it? It’s my biggest and most meaningful birthday.”
It was a whirlwind year for PSY, whose viral hit became the most viewed YouTube video ever , cementing his fame and earning him millions in the process.
He smartly stoked the flame of “Gangnam Style” by horse-dancing on camera with every single celebrity he could get his hands on and making guest appearances all over. He had his 15-minutes of controversy , but even that couldn’t keep him down.
Now, PSY is going to retire “Gangnam Style” and focus on what’s next, reports NY Daily .
“The song became too popular, and so you start to have some concern about its life period,” he said. “I’m really working hard on a new single right now, and I’m not saying [‘Gangnam’] is ending on Dick Clark — I still have a lot of invitations to perform it . . . I’ll be in Paris, and in February I got invited to perform in China, and I’ve still got to do promo. So let me say that in America I need a new single because ‘Gangnam Style’ got too popular, so I’ve got to write a new single.”
This is actually pretty smart of PSY. Beyond creating a catchy tune, he’s a genius at selling himself as a brand. He could just keep blowing up the bubble bigger and bigger but at some point, that bubble does pop, and many artists find themselves incapable of moving on.
By retiring “Gangnam Style” himself before the culture gets a chance to do it first, PSY is giving himself a shot at a long-running career that doesn’t involve performing his horse dance at Bar Mitzvahs.
Good luck, PSY! 2013 is your year, baby.