Why can Jiangnan style be popular all over the world overnight?

"Nobody" is a cloud, and "poker face" is out of date. The fried chicken popular in Divine Comedy now is a Korean dance called Gangnam Style.

How red is it? The MV of this song was released on the internet in mid-July. By the day before yesterday, the number of hits had reached 325 million, breaking the Guinness World Record. In the past year, no video has been clicked more than 1 100 million times. In Britain, it became the number one single record chart in Britain in the first week of this month. In the United States, it ranked second in the bulletin board list No.41on June 4, 65438. Britney spears and robin williams both joined the imitation army, and the movie star Tom Cruise shouted for them on the homepage. In China, it has also become the object of imitation from stars to grassroots. Not only that, this song also triggered a worldwide adaptation frenzy, with several versions such as Obama Campaign Style, American Navy Style, Nanjing Style, Stephen Chow Style and Hakka Style.

Nowadays, like all divine comedy, the question about Jiangnan Style is "What is it?" The other half is asking, "Why did this song become famous overnight?"

Experts from all walks of life cracked the password.

The cultural background is obviously not enough to explain how Jiangnan Style spread all over the world like a plague. Compared with the lyrics, people outside North Korea seem to be more interested in PSY's original "horse riding dance" in MV: overweight PSY keeps repeating the whipping and galloping movements, and with the rhythm of music, people have an inexplicable impulse to dance together. This is also a passage from a star to a grassroots eager to imitate. Cracking the popular password of Jiangnan Style has become a hot topic for people from all walks of life. Various interpretations further constitute an important part of "Jiangnan Style Phenomenon". The conclusion of these studies is that although "Horse Riding Dance" is easy to learn, it is the music itself that really helps it become popular.

The first is the physiological theory. A scientific research institution in South Korea has studied this song and found that it repeats five syllables four times in a cycle of 3.6 seconds, while the core rhythm of the five syllables in the whole song is repeated more than 100 times, which is almost in sync with the heart rate of people after jogging for half an hour-this is the most exciting moment. This statement explains why most people shake their bodies unconsciously with this song. Another element that stimulates people's physiological response is its catchy melody and rhythm-scientific research has found that when a person makes a * * sound to the melody and rhythm of a piece of music, this piece of music will appear repeatedly in his mind, which is what the scientific community calls the "ear worm" phenomenon. Although the music that causes the phenomenon of "ear worm" varies from person to person, it is obvious that "ear worm" prefers those works that are easy to catchy.

The second is psychological theory. Some psychologists in South Korea said that "Gangnam Style" stimulates the body response and autonomic nervous system through simple repetitive rhythms; Especially the climax part can stimulate people's instinct to get rid of psychological depression and format their lives. There are even clinical cases that prove that some mental patients will laugh happily after listening to this song and make themselves feel relaxed.

The third is the theory of music theory. Some music critics said that "Gangnam Style" coincides with the trend of electronic music that has swept the mainstream music industry in the United States in recent years; Its chorus part is Korean music style. The combination of the two has produced a wonderful chemical effect, which not only goes against the preferences of Korean fans, but also conforms to the aesthetic taste of audiences in other countries and regions. This statement is also reliable in connection with the professional background that PSY graduated from Berkeley Conservatory of Music in the United States.

In addition, ugliness culture, herd mentality, group effect and idolatry are all contributing to the popularity of Jiangnan Style. But it can be predicted that no matter how thoroughly people analyze the popularity of Jiangnan Style, they can't decide or even predict what the next Divine Comedy will look like. The strange thing about pop culture is that there is actually no success that can be replicated.

The article is quoted from China Newsweek and Jiangnan Style: Ugly Appreciation Culture:/comment/comment-4134.html.