PSY Explains What He Went Through After "Gangnam Style"

K-pop icon PSY has confessed that all the buzz and hype around “Gangnam Style” back in 2012 caused him to struggle with writing new songs and staying true to his own self.

The singer held a live stream event through Naver’s V app on November 24 to catch up with fans before the release of his seventh studio album on December 1.

During the event, he revealed that he often reads what people write about him online, and added that over the past two to three years, he has noticed a trend in the type of comments posted on portal sites. “They include ‘It’s time to stop,’ ‘Return to your old self,’ ‘Return to the PSY with sweaty armpits,’ and ‘You’ve been milking Gangnam Style for way too long,'” the singer offered some examples.

“Whenever I read such comments, I thought to myself: If a person who is not used to compliments is suddenly praised, there is a chance that the person will change,” he said, and confessed that “Gangnam Style” changed the game for him for the next two or so years. “Day after another, I experienced things that were almost unreal, and I changed a bit as a result. The environment made it impossible to resist change. Fortunately everything didn’t go as smoothly after that, so I didn’t change as much as I could have.”

Referring to his rocky past as an entertainer, he went on to say, “This country has consistently taught me to not get too excited about things. But even despite that, [the sudden international attention] changed me as a whole, and I also caught the ‘American disease.'”

In Korea, ‘American disease’ is an expression used to describe an overly romanticized perception of the United States, and in this context, PSY seems to suggest that he could only think about making it even bigger in the American music market after gaining popularity with “Gangnam Style.”

“Because of [the disease], I struggled with writing songs. And consequently, releasing new songs always took a long time,” he explained.

Meanwhile, the upcoming release will mark PSY’s first proper comeback in nearly three years.

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