Crayon Pop vs. Psy - Similarities Between the Two Artists?

Crayon Pop is receiving a lot of attention among the K-pop girl groups.

America's Billboard even nicknamed Crayon Pop as the "2nd Generation Psy." Crayon Pop has many similarities to Psy, who went global with his popular song. Although many thought Crayon Pop was just a passing trend, their popularity has been going strong for two months now, and their song is reminiscent of Psy's "Gangnam Style." A star that can follow in Psy's footsteps has been born, and that star is the five-member girl group Crayon Pop. Although no one expected their sudden success, Crayon Pop is slowly climbing the charts with their song "Bar Bar Bar." Let's go into a comparative analysis of the two stars' popularities.

B Level Code

Psy and Crayon Pop gave up the pretty and cool style early on, and instead embraced a B-level code of originality. Last year as Psy toured America promoting his song, his concept was "Dress classy, dance cheesy." Although he was wearing luxury brand clothing, his dance was a whole different story. Crayon Pop is also very different from other girl groups. They adopted the "bizarre" code and did something no girl group ever thought of doing. They wore helmets and training sweatpants. Their helmets and clothes are something anyone could easily buy. Instead of spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on their music video, they only spent a couple thousand.

YouTube Star to Chart Top Spot

Both the groups gained their fame late after releasing their songs. Their rise to fame could be attributed to YouTube videos that went viral. Psy's "Gangnam Style" was first released in mid-July, but his popularity took off in the beginning of August. CNN's coverage and many YouTube parody videos of the dance played a big part in making him popular, and the song now boasts 1.6 billion views. Similarly, Crayon Pop's "Bar Bar Bar" was first released on June 20, and it didn't even rise to the top 100 on music charts. But soon thereafter, police officers, soldiers, and even dogs parodied this dance, helping them gain popularity and rise on the music charts. In just 44 days they got to the number 1 spot. Even now they are in the top 3 or 4 spots on global music charts.

Addicting Dance

Simple, repetitive dance moves have brought the world together. "Gangnam Style's" success is widely attributed to the easy "horse dance" that everyone from age 3 to age 99 can do. This dance that features putting forward both arms and rolling the feet has made fans all over the world. This "horse dance" was thought up of choreographer Lee Joo Sun on the spot. Similarly, Crayon pop's staggered jumping dance "serial five-cylinder" dance has gained lots of love. Named after a car engine piston's movements, this dance was made by the members themselves. It is a simple dance that only requires three people to complete. People who have seen the "horse dance" and "serial five-cylinder dance" have commented, "Why didn't we think of these dance moves before?" Even though it's a dance that anyone can copy, it is made special because of the performers. Even celebrities are copying these dance moves. Cha In Pyo, Girls Generation, "Infinite Challenge," Park Jae Bum, and Britney Spears have been seen dancing the "horse dance" on television. Yoo Ah In, Ryu Soo Young, and Kim So Young showed off their "serial five-cylinder dances" on their social networking sites.

One music rep said, "This unique concept that no other girl group has attempted before makes Crayon Pop popular. And they are the perfect examples of a group who decided to 'Do what others don't.'"