It’s been two years since Korea’s Psy unleashed the sonically-encoded super virus “Gangnam Style” on an unsuspecting world and this week the singer finally has an equally incomprehensible follow up. To record it he teamed up with fellow rap alien Snoop Dogg, forming a two-man supergroup of pop music’s most eccentric MCs. The result is their new ode to alcohol-induced suffering, “Hangover.”
Of course, “Hangover” is impossible to listen to if you actually have a hangover thanks to its 100-decibel, auto-tuned refrain of “HANGOVER, HANGOVER, HANGOVER, HANGOVER-OVER.” But as a go-for-broke, gonzo art project, the video is an instant, bewildering success. Let’s look at just seven reasons why.
1. Psy’s Improbable Volume of Psychedelic Cartoon Barf
Among the things the singer apparently consumed last night: three gallons of green water, several bottles, a chicken bone, an inner tube, a banana peel and an entire pigeon head. Has Psy considered that maybe it’s not the drinking that’s making him sick but the whole “being a ghoul who eats filthy bird heads” thing? Just a thought.
2. Snoop Dogg’s Intimate Fountain-side Rap
It can take some couples months to feel comfortable sharing a bathroom, but after just minutes together Psy and Snoop have developed the kind of relationship where they’re cool to drop 16 bars while the other bathes in a fountain of lemon-lime Gatorade. Sort of like the Friends theme if the Friends were complete maniacs. Just look at their faces. This is true love.
3. Psy’s Loyalty to His Own Officially Licensed Alcoholic Beverages
Sure, it might be a bit gauche to buy your own stuff, but if you could either drink a random beer or one covered with your face, the choice is pretty obvious, right? Also, it should be noted that it’s not actually clear whether this drink really exists or if the can was solely manufactured for this second-long shot. Either way, pretty ballin’.
4. The Doggfather Skipping Like a Schoolgirl Through an Amusement Park
If I had to guess what a night out with Snoop Dogg was like, some phrases that might come up are “lowriders,” “strippers” and “piles and piles of weapons-grade marijuana.” Words I’d be unlikely to mention include “skipping,” “ferris wheel” and “affectionately hugging a Korean housewife.”
5. The Dreadlocked Korean Stuntman in Brownface
I can understand it must be difficult to get a stand-in for a six-foot-four black dude on short notice in Korea, but there has to be a better solution than “paint the stuntman to look like Milli Vanilli.” Of course, this video isn’t about finding the best solution, just the most ambitiously weird one. By that criterion Bob Hard-ley was the perfect choice. Great job, guys.
6. Psy’s Bruce Lee-Inspired Drinking Suit
Some people take their drinking pretty seriously, but few take their alcohol consumption to the level of “Bruce Lee in The Game of Death.” Psy apparently needs full range of motion to get hammered, making the yellow-and-black tracksuit something of a necessity. This makes a lot more sense once you realize he’s drinking Jack Daniel’s by the bowl.
7. The Delivery Man Engulfed in Flames Who Runs Through the Frame for No Discernible Reason
Because why not.