“Oppan Gangnam style” literally means “Older Brother has Gangnam style”. People who are actually from Gangnam never proclaim that they are-it’s only the posers and wannabes that put on these airs and say that they are “Gangnam Style”-so this song is actually poking fun at those kinds of people who are trying so hard to be something that they’re not. Or, as Park Jae-sang (PSY, who himself was from a wealthy family and grew up close to Gangnam) said, Gangnam residents are seen as “good-looking because of plastic surgery, stylish because they can splurge on luxury goods, and slim thanks to yoga and personal trainers.” Sounds a bit like wealthy people from Los Angeles… Gangnam residents are South Korea’s upper class, but South Koreans consider them self-interested, with no sense of nobility.” As pop critic Kim Zakka, who lives in Seoul, said “Gangnam inspires both envy and distaste. So “Gangnam Style” simply is referencing this sort of elite, “new money”, wealthy culture and lifestyle that has sprung up around the region. For reference, the average South Korean household’s annual income is about $40,000. How wealthy do you have to be to live in Gangnam? The average price of an apartment there costs around 3/4 of a million dollars per year. Before that, there really wasn’t much there but farmland.) (The region has only very recently become extremely upscale, with a gradual upswing in the last half century or so. It is known for its wealthy, “new money”, inhabitants. “Gangnam” is an area in South Korea, specifically a small area in Seoul, South Korea, home to about 1% of the population of Seoul and is about the size of Manhattan. Stevens asks: What does “Gangnam Style” actually mean?