Psy on Reddit: Funny, but clearly overwhelmed by fame

Congratulations to the Ohio University marching band! Psy has officially declared the band’s version of “Gangnam Style” his favorite of all the tributes to the song.

Psy jumped on Reddit on Wednesday for an hour of Ask Me Anything (AMA), a regular feature on the site allowing people from around the world to post questions to a person of note.

Psy became an international superstar after his video for “Gangnam Style” went viral in August. It is the third most viewed video of all-time on YouTube with more than half a billion views. It is also the most liked video in YouTube’s history.

Psy has received a lot of attention since the video went viral in August, but his Reddit AMA was still revealing.

For starters, even though he’s been a pop star in South Korea for more than a decade, he’s pretty overwhelmed by his international fame. When asked how his family and friends reacted to his sudden superstardom outside of South Korea he wrote, “They are normal people so they freaked out because it’s way too fast and way too far. Even I myself get freaked out a bit. We were not ready for this.”

Psy said he knew he had a catchy song on his hands with “Gangnam Style” but didn’t expect it to go international.

When asked what is the weirdest thing he’s ever seen a fan do, he responded, “I feel weird about all the fans because they are so worldwide. I cannot really believe it yet.”

Psy also told the Reddit community that Psy is short for psycho, that he started playing clarinet at age 8, and that he also plays the drums. I was surprised to learn that his favorite clarinet solo is the theme of the movie “Dying Young” by Kenny G. His idol is Freddie Mercury. And one thing he wishes more people knew about him is that he writes all his music himself.

Also, if you thought “Gagnam Style” was a serious social critique of Gangnam, the wealthy neighborhood in Seoul, think again. Psy said the song is just “FUN.”

Throughout the AMA he showed his funny side, sometimes using words we can’t print here.

When someone asked why he always looks so serious when he’s dancing he said, “Because I am serious about my dancing.”

And when another fan asked if he could come hang out with pop star in Seoul, his response was, “Call me maybe.”

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Marching band showdown: ‘Gangnam Style’ vs. video game tribute
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