How many times have you watched it? Korean rapper Psy’s slick, wickedly satirical video “Gangnam Style” broke all kinds of sound barriers this year, clocking more than 820 million YouTube views — and counting. The über-ambitious Seoul music industry watched in amazement as the eccentric 34-year-old hip-hop artist, gleefully skewering the music machine that made him, managed to go where no Korean performer had gone before. The rest of us just danced. We’ll have Psy to thank on the inevitable day when we do the horse dance for our grandkids at a wedding. And they’ll have Psy to thank for the great Korean bands on whatever device they’ll be using to listen to music.
People Who Mattered in 2012
Psy
Full List
People Who Mattered
- Bashar Assad
- Ben Bernanke
- Jeff Bezos
- John Boehner
- Chris Christie
- Hillary Clinton
- Bill Clinton
- Stephen Colbert
- Claire Danes
- Gabby Douglas
- Mario Draghi
- Lena Dunham
- Sandra Fluke
- Roger Goodell
- Klaus Jacob
- E.L. James
- Jay-Z
- Xi Jinping
- Paul Kagame
- Imran Khan
- Christine Lagarde
- Erik Martin and Violentacrez
- Trayvon Martin
- Marissa Mayer
- Angela Merkel
- Khaled Meshal
- Kate Middleton
- Enrique Peña Nieto
- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Frank Ocean
- Michelle Obama
- Larry Page
- Jonah Peretti
- David Petraeus
- Michael Phelps
- Psy
- Pussy Riot
- Susan Rice
- John Roberts
- Mitt Romney
- Paul Ryan
- Thein Sein
- Nate Silver
- Anne-Marie Slaughter
- Jon Stewart
- Aung San Suu Kyi
- Undocumented Immigrants
- Kim Jong Un
- Kate Upton
- Elizabeth Warren