With recent hits like “What Does the Fox Say?,” “Gangnam Style” and “Call Me Maybe,” all of which transcended throughout the world, foreign music is becoming an international phenomenon. Although students at BYU-Hawaii speak over 50 different languages, music is something that the multicultural student body shares a common interest in and is a way to bridge the language gap. Maddie Merchant, a freshman from BYU visiting Laie, noticed something different about BYU-Hawaii. “Everyone is so different and everyone listens to different music, but they still have so much in common.” Merchant continued, “They listen to songs from their own country and in their own language, but they still know all these popular songs that have gone viral. It’s really cool to see how connected everyone is through music.” Through media outlets such as YouTube, ITunes, Facebook, and Twitter, foreign music has gained access in nearly every country throughout the world. However, students at BYUH have their own theories about how songs become so popular internationally. Brooke Lindahl, a freshman in psychology from Arizona, said, “I think they really appeal to kids even though they might not be able to understand what the song is about. They have a really good beat, and a lot of the songs have dances to go with them and everyone just gets addicted.” Sarah Precourt, a freshman in psychology from Virginia, added, “Honestly, people just listen to them to make fun of them, or show their friends. Then, they just get stuck in your head and you can’t stop singing them. You eventually end up loving the song, even though you have no idea what the lyrics mean.”“Gangnam Style,” by South Korean musician Psy, is arguably the biggest international music hit. The song has drawn over 1.9 billion views on YouTube, and is known all around the BYUH campus. Psy released Gangnam style and only 10 days after releasing the dance video, it became the most watched and liked video in YouTube history, and Psy became an international icon. In an interview with Time Magazine, Psy admitted that luck was the reason Gangnam Style went viral. ”I think this is all about luck. They say some philosopher said, ‘when effort meets chance, then there is luck…’ Chance was YouTube and effort my last 12 years because I’ve done these kinds of dance moves and videos and songs for 12 years.”
Writer: Emily Halls ~ Multimedia Journalist
