'Gangnam Style' Psy Nowhere to be Found in US, Once Was King

There was a time when everyone was in love with Psy. He not only put K-Pop on the map with his YouTube hit "Gangnam Style," he made the map all his own. Successive singles have done progressively worse, and a long rumored US recorded album has never materialized. One minute Psy was king, and the next he was nowhere to be found. What's the deal?

Instead of trying to consolidate his position in the US market, where according to an article on BBC.com, he has made an estimated $55 million dollars, Psy has set his sights on China, where his collaboration with pianist Lang Lang has been gold.

"Chinese fans love his music," Hyun Suk "YG" Yang, his manager and founder and chairman of one of Korea's biggest entertainment companies, YG Entertainment, told the BBC.

"It topped [all the] Chinese music charts."

As weird as it may seem, it's not that radical of an idea. Again, according to BBC.com, China's entertainment market was last valued at $95.7 bn. The lure of money was too much for Psy.

A new album has been reportedly in the offering for a long time now. It was recently shelved by the Korean rapper, due to an unhappiness with the way it sounded.

Psy has, however, re-recorded his hits in Mandarin with the idea of releasing an album in China to try to further his popularity in the Communist-run country. Among the songs that will be included on the album are "Paradise," "The End" and "What Would Have Been."

No matter the reason for the sudden withdrawal from this country, he has made enough money on one song alone to retire and live comfortably for the rest of his life.

What do you think? Do you miss Psy? Was he just a fad? Were you a part of the "Gangnam Style" craze?p a global phenomenon