PSY and “RIGHT NOW”
On October 20, 2010, PSY released his fifth album Psyfive, his first release after signing with YG Entertainment. The album features 12 songs, including the title track “RIGHT NOW.” Three of the tracks on the album are listed as explicit, while “RIGHT NOW” was banned from under 19 audiences by South Korea’s Ministry of Gender Equality and Family because of the lyric, “Life is like toxic alcohol.” The banning of the song led to PSY remarking, “This is exactly why life is like toxic alcohol.” The track later had the ban removed, but even with the ban, “RIGHT NOW” led to PSY being nominated and winning awards that year. At the Mnet Asian Music Awards, Psy was nominated for “Best Male Solo Artist” which he did not win; however, he did win “Best Performance” at the MelOn Music Awards for “RIGHT NOW” while Psyfive took home “Record of the Year” at the 2011 Seoul Music Awards.
“RIGHT NOW” has two music videos: one from PSY’s perspective and another featuring actress Seo Woo, who is best known for her roles in Cinderella’s Sister and Flames of Desire. In the PSY version, the video starts off showing the soloist stuck in traffic in his red MINI. As he’s sitting in traffic, he begins jamming and dancing through the streets to “RIGHT NOW,” giving the other motorists an interesting and energetic performance. After the first chorus, PSY is seen in an office wearing a fake set of abs under a white top, still dancing along to the music in his own way before being joined by the other office staff. We’re also treated to scenes of pedestrians dancing on the sidewalks, grocery store shoppers and workers dancing, and PSY standing and dancing on top of a car. It’s a fun music video that doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is exactly what the lyrics want as well: don’t take life too seriously, don’t lose yourself in the mix, and just genuinely be yourself.
The Seo Woo version of the music video was released the day after Psyfive and PSY’s “RIGHT NOW” video, and is much the same as the PSY version, but instead of PSY in the red MINI and dancing around the cars, it’s Seo Woo. The only real differences seen in this version are that we don’t see Seo Woo in the fake abs and her version is, admittedly, a little bit sexier. But it still fits in with the lyrics of being yourself, embracing everything about yourself, and letting loose.
Roughly five months after the release of Psyfive, PSY released a music video for “IT’S ART,” recapping some of his most exciting performances and showing some behind-the-scenes moments from his tour.
Psyfive peaked at No. 6 on the Gaon Weekly Album Chart, while “RIGHT NOW” peaked at No. 4 on the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart and No. 3 on the Gaon Weekly Download Chart. Other tracks from Psyfive that charted on the Gaon Weekly Digital Chart include “In My Eyes” featuring Lee Jaehoon at No. 11, “Thank You” featuring Seo Inyoung at No. 16, and “IT’S ART” at No. 51. Two years after its release, “RIGHT NOW” peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard U.S. World Digital Song Sales Chart, riding the wave caused by PSY’s growing popularity after the release of “GANGNAM STYLE.”
While not his most covered song by any means, the track did come back into the scene with a younger generation of fans when ATEEZ covered the song for their fourth appearance, and third win, on Immortal Songs 2, with maknae Jongho singing the lyric that initially got the song banned.