The Korea Herald

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Psy hailed as 'ready-made star' by Billboard magazine

By 신현희

Published : Oct. 27, 2012 - 17:43

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South Korean pop sensation Psy has been hailed as a "ready-made star" by the U.S. weekly music magazine Billboard in its latest issue.

Psy, whose real name is Park Jae-sang, was featured on the cover of the Nov. 3 issue of Billboard, the magazine said on its Web site on Friday (local time).

The cover story analyzes several factors that helped the 34-year-old entertainer succeed with his hit song "Gangnam Style," which features comical horse-riding dance moves. The video went viral on YouTube in July, and has since drawn more than 530 million views.

"Having been schooled in the States (he briefly attended Boston University and Berklee College of Music), he knows enough English to navigate U.S. media; he has more than a decade of experience performing huge shows in Korea as a solo artist; and, at 34, he's business-minded enough to be able to make his own decisions without label micromanagement," the story said.

"In essence, PSY came to America as a ready-made star," it concluded.

The cover story is titled, "How the K-Pop breakout star harnessed the power of YouTube, SNL and more to become music's new global brand."

The story also talks in detail about how Scooter Braun, the music executive known for discovering YouTube-sensations-turned-pop-stars such as Justin Bieber and Carly Rae Jepsen, ended up signing Psy for the U.S. market.

Psy stayed at No. 2 on the Billboard's Hot 100 Chart, updated Wednesday, for the fifth straight week, once again behind Maroon 5's "One More Night."

On Thursday, the K-pop star unveiled plans for his next song in an interview on U.S. cable network CNN, saying the lyrics will be a mix of English and Korean. (Yonhap News)