Months away from the fifth anniversary of “Gangnam Style,” PSY released his eighth album, 4×2=8, on Wednesday (May 10) accompanied by two, viral-ready music videos for the dual singles “New Face” and “I Luv It.”
Ever the showman, the two music videos are eccentric, star-studded backdrops to the high-energy songs.
“I Luv It” is a clapback at haters, and the video features PSY swaggering his way around a variety of sets, including a traditional Korean village, as a counter ticks away at billions of YouTube views, a pointed reference to PSY’s 2012 hit, which remains YouTube’s most-watched video of all time. The rapper is joined by “PPAP” singer Pikotaro and G.I Joe and Terminator actor Lee Byung Hun, who dance along to the propulsive beat of the party track, which draws on retro dance-pop and EDM.
K-pop idol Naeun, a member of the girl group Apink, stars in “New Face,” playing the woman PSY is trying to get with as he takes on a variety of roles and personas in the video. This is the man who went viral by galloping like a horse, and in the video for the brassy “New Face,” PSY doesn’t disappoint. He returns with new easy-to-learn moves that look like an updated version of the “Gangnam Style” dance while playing peek-a-boo, dabbing and trying to keep pants on without a belt.
4×2=8 is PSY’s first new album since 2015’s Chiljip Psy-da and features 10 tracks, including the two singles.
To reinvigorate his sound with youthful vigor, PSY told Korean media that he went into the album wanting to collaborate with younger musicians. The result was numerous features on the album courtesy of his labelmates at YG Entertainment. Actress Lee Sung-Kyung, BIGBANG’s Taeyang and G-Dragon, iKon’s Bobby and B.I, and Epik High’s Tablo add their vocals on five of the songs, while the latter four also co-wrote some of the tracks.
Moving outside of YG, PSY also worked with several of Korea’s most prominent producers, including JY Park, the head of JYP Entertainment, and Block B’s rapper-producer Zico, who co-wrote “I Luv It.”
Watch the music videos for “New Face” and “I Love It” here: