S Korea gets unlikely musical sensation in chubby rapper

A chubby rapper with slicked-back hair and a tacky suit is the latest musical sensation to burst upon the world from South Korea via a YouTube music video that has been seen by over 26 million people in under a month.

In a nation famed for the pretty-boy but often bland bands of K-Pop, nobody was more surprised by the success of the video 'Gangnam Style' than its creator, Psy, a musician with a decade-long career in his homeland who never thought to break overseas.

Psy told Reuters, "My goal in this music video was to look uncool until the end. I achieved it."

Decked out in a bow tie and suit jackets varying from pink to baby blue, as well as a towel for one sequence set in a sauna, the 34-year-old Psy busts funky moves based on horse-riding in venues ranging from playgrounds to subways.

The video has been viewed by more than 26 million since mid-July, eclipsing the total for pop star Justin Bieber's most recent effort, according to YouTube. Parodies have popped up in South Korea and the US, and the tune was used as part of Stockholm's Pride Parade earlier this month.

Even a few of South Korea's normally staid presidential candidates are imitating Psy's moves in an appeal to voters. The song, released in July, was meant as a commentary on the rampant materialism and emphasis on appearance of today's South Korea — particularly in relation to Gangnam, which Psy terms Seoul's Beverly Hills.

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