Biography of rapper PSY
The most famous performer in South Korea; You Tube star; the man who made the whole world dance Gangnam Style – it’s all about him – about Park Chae Sang, the famous rapper who appeared as if from nowhere, introducing planet Earth a new look at the world canons of the pop industry and instantly became everyone’s favorite. But who is he and what do we know about this funny overweight singer who hides his eyes behind dark glasses, and his real name behind the pseudonym PSY? Let’s try to figure this out today. What was the life of a famous singer before the famous hit “Gangnam Style” and what was it like after? Who could become a famous Asian singer? And how did he manage to turn from an unknown guy into an idol of millions? The answers to these questions are further in our article.
Park Chae-sang’s early years
The future singer was born in 1977 in the Gangnam-gu area (in a different pronunciation of Gangnam-gu) – a rich and fashionable area of Seoul. His father was the chief executive of DI Corporation, a South Korean semiconductor company. And therefore, from childhood, young Pak Chae San was surrounded by prosperity that the world of the largest South Korean metropolis could offer him.
Rapper PSY first became an internet star
As befits a guy from a rich family, Park Chae-sang was educated at one of the closed schools in Seoul, but his own education was of little interest to him. From the age of fifteen, music became his true passion. His main idols were American singers Eminem and 2 Pac. Following their example, as a teenager, the future hero of video hosting began to write his own tracks.
However, his son’s hobbies were of little interest to his father. And already in 1996, as part of a corporate training program for DI Corporation, Psy moved to the USA, where he began studying business management techniques at Boston University. From the beginning of his studies, his academic performance was below average. He often disappeared for a long time, not appearing at school for several weeks. And therefore, soon his father had to connect all his connections in order to leave his son at the university.
But six months later, Park Chae-sang himself dropped out. After graduating from a short course in English, he applied for admission to the Berklee College of Music. It is worth noting that studying at the University of California was also not too long for the South Korean. Having mastered the basics of solfeggio, music synthesis and modern writing, PSY returned to Korea, where he began his solo career as a performer.
PSY music career
Having moved back to his homeland, Park Chae-sang, already performing under the pseudonym PSY, appeared on Korean National Television, where he presented his first real hit to the public – the song “Bird”, which instantly fell in love with the audience. In 2001, his first full-length album “PSY from the PSYcho World!” appeared on the shelves of music stores in the Republic of Korea. The artist’s clips hit the national charts; clips (already then filled with a lot of crazy dances) began to be actively broadcast on TV. In 2001, Park Chae-sang, now better known as the crazy singer PSY, firmly established himself as the new star of South Korea. In 2002, the performer delighted his fans with a new album – “Sa 2”, which was allowed to be purchased only by persons over 19 years old due to “potentially dangerous” content for teenagers.
History repeated itself six months later, when a new Korean celebrity released another of his studio records “3 PSY”. This time, due to the scandalous content of his songs, the performer was fined, but Pak Chae San (or rather the singer PSY) was not going to “tie up” with asocial texts.
In fairness, it should be noted that the third album of the artist had a lot of really worthwhile compositions. So, the song “Champion”, timed to coincide with the 2002 Football World Cup, became the unspoken anthem of the World Cup and brought the singer the Korea Music Awards.
Fall and rise again, PSY now
In the period from 2003 to 2012, the artist’s popularity began to decline. Singles FATHER (2005) We Are the One (2006), Beautiful Goodbyes (2006), Artists (2006)
RIGHT NOW, In My Eyes, THANK YOU (all – 2010), It’s Art (2011) and many others did not bring the artist the popularity that he had before. The groovy and a little crazy singer was in his 40s and no longer looked as bright and incendiary as in previous years.
Having slightly changed his role, PSY began to act more and more often as a producer and composer. However, the dream of new achievements still did not leave him.
And on July 15, 2012, the emerging recession was followed by a new breakthrough. The Gangnam Style video that appeared on the Internet and the choreography presented in it instantly made the Korean artist popular far beyond his homeland. The song entered the Guinness Book of Records and became a real legend of the You Tube portal. The composition (as noted by some well-known producers) spread like a computer virus. Five months after its release, the video has surpassed 1 billion views.
After leaving the Internet, Gangnam Style soon migrated to world radio stations, becoming a real hit in all corners of the planet. At the moment, according to some estimates, this composition alone brought the singer 8.1 million dollars.
Trying to finally establish himself as a kind of Internet phenomenon, in April 2013, the South Korean artist presented the world with his new hit Gentleman, which also became very popular.
Personal life
Unlike his stage career, very little is known about the singer’s personal life. In October 2006, Park Chae-sang married his longtime girlfriend Yoo Hye-young, a young cellist and student at Yonsei University in Seoul. After some time, the couple had two twin daughters.
Rapper PSY with wife Yoo Hye-young
Currently, the performer lives in a luxury residential complex on the west coast of the United States. His concert activity is also mainly connected with Western countries. Therefore, the return of the four performers to Korea is not yet planned.