Featuring 7 juniors, “beginner, sincere, this time eager”
“10 years of ‘Gangnam Style’… I’m proud that the Billboard tally changed.”
▲ Psy’s 9th album ‘Cheap 9’. Pinning provided
“When I was in my 20s, there were a lot of fans in their 20s, and even now, in their 40s, there are a lot of fans in their 20s. It feels like I am not getting old and I am grateful. He will be the most successful if he hears from his fans, ‘This hyung is still sitting like this’.”
The words of the 22-year-old dance singer Psy, who returned with the 9th regular album ‘Cheap 9’. At the album release commemoration hearing held at a hotel in Yeouido, Seoul on the 29th, Psy said, “It is an album that I prepared for a very long time and carefully.”
‘Cheap 9’ is Psy’s first full album in 5 years since his 8th album in 2017. It contains a total of 12 songs, including the title song ‘That That’, ‘Celebrity’, ‘Ganji’, ‘Now’, and ‘It’s Impressed’, including the title song ‘That That’ featuring Suga of the group BTS. Psy said, “I didn’t know it would take longer than the Olympics and the World Cup.” He said, “If the previous albums contained the original intention, please look at it with the keyword ‘zealous’ this time.”
▲ Singer Psy poses at a press conference to commemorate the release of the 9th regular album ‘Cheap 9’ held in Yeouido, Seoul on the 29th. Pinning provided
As it has been prepared for a long time, in addition to the title song, 6 songs are presented together with music videos and performance videos, so there are plenty of things to listen to and see. In particular, in addition to BTS’ Suga, other singers including Sung Si-kyung, Heize, Jessie, Hwasa, Crush, and Tablo participated in the featuring and became a hot topic. Psy said, “Seven junior musicians participated in this album, and they all readily accepted without any conditions.
It is said that the collaboration for the title song was accomplished because Suga made a “precious step” first. He explained, “Last year, I thought it would be good to do a Latin dance instead of an EDM-based dance, but Suga came up with an accompaniment that I thought was good because he made a song that suited me.” Psy said, “Working with Suga, I thought a lot about ‘I used to have fun and wild music like that'” and “Through him, I burned my passion again.”
▲ Psy’s ‘That That’ MV teaser. Pinning provided
This year is also the 10th year since the worldwide hit song ‘Gangnam Style’ was released. It was the title song of the 6th regular album in 2012, and the comical music video gained huge popularity on YouTube, and the ‘horse dance’ became popular worldwide. This song was the first K-pop song to reach #2 on the US Billboard’s main single chart ‘Hot 100’, and the number of single video views on YouTube exceeded 1 billion for the first time.
After such a global hit, YouTube has not only been a platform for releasing music videos, but has also established itself as another major content to promote artists. Regarding this, Psy said, “‘Gangnam Style’ is a very special song. After this song, when counting the artist’s performance on Billboard, we reduced the proportion of local radio broadcasts and increased the proportion of YouTube. In fact, the BTS members also said thank you several times,” he laughed.
▲ Psy’s ‘Celebrity’ music video stills. Pinning provided
He continued, “The song was a hit at the time, but I was mentally exhausted because Nara was not a successful singer. They will continue to be popular for a long time.” Psy also revealed his ambition to do more work to harmonize the new and old generations as he is the ‘waist age’ of the music industry. He said, “Although K-pop is currently popular all over the world, I want to publicize that it is not just an idol, but a genre with various artists. The inclusion of the remake song in the album is part of that,” he said.
Reporter Kim Jung-hwa
