How come people were unaware of Gangnam Style in 2012?

I think the main reason is this. They did, but they don't remember or they did not know it was kpop. I heard Gangnam Style way before I became a kpop stan but only knew that it was kpop after I got into BTS and Blackpink.

It took a slow burn for the virality of gangnam style to pick up and break into the west; I was introduced to it simply because of the absurdity of Psy in his MV, especially in mother father gentleman after that.

Cause it was funny

They lived in a cave? It was borderline hard to avoid at times. I would hear it at work, on the train, at the shopping centre and then at home on the TV all in the same day.

I guess not many know that it’s kpop even though they’ve heard of it. Like the pen apple pineapple song, it’s just a funny foreign song.

I thought "getting into Kpop " meant becoming interested in Kpop and not just discovering one Kpop song? I heard Gangnam style in 2012 and then Gentleman too but it did not made me want to hear other Kpop music. And Gangnam style was seen as a funny song with a memorable dance move, it was not really associated with Kpop.

What do you mean? Are there people that never heard Gangnam Style or if you heard it it means you got into K-pop? I heard Gangnam Style back when it went viral, but it does not mean I got into K-pop by hearing it.

I didn't get into k-pop until 2020 and I was one of the early viewers of Gangnam Style when it was still below 10M views on YT.

It was entertaining and had a lot of replay value, and I ended up watching a couple episodes of Dream High with Suzy (she glowed up like crazy). But I wasn't interested enough to keep exploring more at the time.

I'm still a casual k-pop observer.

I would say Gangnam Style had nothing to do with kpop, it was mainly just a funny asian dude going viral on internet with a funny dance and a pretty good song. At least if you lived in the "west". Many kpop fans also are young, so if you became a couple of years after GS it's not strange if they was so young they did not really know much about it.

I think Psy came out during the whole viral dances craze. I vaguely remember the Macarena also around that time. I wasn't into the craze so I ignored it.

In the UK, it was completely treated as, at best, a viral sensation, but realistically, at worst as a joke - not many people were analysing the lyrics for their satirical value. And if you ask the majority of average joes on the British street, they might be able to drop the name of BTS or Blackpink but a lot of people would just say ‘oh like, Gangnam style?’ and do the galloping dance.

But there weren’t a huge amount of people rushing at that time to investigate what else KPop had to offer. It was - and still is, to a large number of people, just not seen as particularly cool. Or maybe just niche, like listening to Eurovision songs outside of actual Eurovision. It’s changing slooooooowly.

Quote from workingclass

I think Psy came out during the whole viral dances craze. I vaguely remember the Macarena also around that time.

Your memory fails you, as the Macarena craze happened in 1996, a full 16 years earlier.

No idea this was Kpop. Everyone just waited for the chorus to do the dance and then say "sexyyy ladddyyy".

That was the extent tbh.