The most watched man on YouTube is back with a new song, but how does Psy's "Daddy" stack up in comparison to his earlier hits?
In 2012, the Korean rapper Psy made history with "Gangnam Style," the most watched video on YouTube ever. He achieved similar success on the video-viewing website 2013 follow-up track "Gentleman," but now he's back with "Daddy."
So how does the success compare between Psy's songs.
There's really no way to deny it; "Gangnam Style" has been seen over 2 billion times. But while "Gangnam Style" may be Psy's biggest hit, it also can't compare to the viral attention granted to the singles of his latest music videos, largely as a result of people trying to see what the artist has released next.
Virally, "Daddy" is Psy's third song to really garner international attention. Since being released on Nov. 30, "Daddy" has been watched over 157 years worth of time, according to YouTube's official statistics (as of Dec. 8,) or been viewed roughly 29 million times.
In comparison, "Gangnam Style" took more than a month to achieve over 40 million views; "Gangnam Style" was released on July 15, 2012, but only was viewed 9 million times by the end of the month.
The momentum that kicked off the success that is "Gangnam Style" really began in August, when the song began gathering attention from international outlets like CNN. In comparison, "Daddy" and "Gentleman" achieved international attention from the moment of their releases.
"Gentleman" is the clear winner, with over 100 million views during its first week of release, but "Gangnam Style" and "Daddy" hardly lack their own viral success.
Let's see how the momentum stacks up between these three Psy songs:
"Gangnam Style"
Released July 15, 2012
July 15-July 31, 2012- Viewed over 9 million times
Aug. 15, 2012- Viewed over 28 million times
August 20, 2012 - Viewed over 40 million times
Sept. 4, 2012- Viewed over 100 million times
Sept. 2012- Certified by Guinness World Records as most "liked" video on YouTube
Nov. 24, 2012- Overtakes Justin Bieber's "Baby" as most viewed video on YouTube (Still applicable)
Dec. 21, 2012- 1 Billion views
May 30, 2014- 2 Billion Views
Dec. 2014- YouTube needs new view counter because of "Gangnam Style"
Dec. 8, 2015- 2.4 billion views
"Gentleman"
April 13, 2013- Released
April 13, 2013- Viewed over 6.9 million times in 13 hours
April 13, 2013- Viewed over 10.7 million times
April 15, 2013- Viewed over 60 million times
April 16, 2013- Viewed over 100 million times
April 22, 2013- Viewed over 200 million times
July 31, 2013- Viewed over 500 million times
June 21, 2014- Viewed over 700 million times
Dec. 8, 2015- Viewed over 899 million times
"Daddy"
Nov. 30, 2015- Released
Nov. 30, 2015- Viewed over 1 million times
Dec. 1, 2015- Viewed over 2 million times
Dec. 5, 2015- Viewed over 25 million times
Dec. 9, 2015- Viewed over 42 million times
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Tamar Herman is a multi-media journalist and the co-founder of KultScene. She is a freelance writer and copy editor, and has written for MTV Iggy, Noisey, and Paste Magazine.
