Minn. YouTuber Strives For More Success With 'Gangnam Style' Parody
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - A group of Minnesota YouTubers hope their parody of the South Korean pop hit "Gangnam Style" makes it big. Their song, called "Minnesota Style," has received more than 116,000 views as of Monday afternoon.
The video, by South Korean rapper Psy, has more than 267 million views. Luke Thompson, one of the stars and creator of the video, said the prospect of creating a parody was irresistible.
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"I wanted to do a parody of it because it was so big virally," Thompson said.
He has a YouTube channel called Mippey5, responsible for the "Minnesota Style" video with the help of another Minnesota YouTuber named Chad Wild Clay. Thompson is also the creator of the video "Minnesota Gurls" that has more than 2 million views.
"I figured it was about time to do a 'Minnesota Gurls Part 2' because people seemed to like that one. 'Minnesota Style' fit with the right amount of syllables and I figured it could be a fun type of video," he said.
Thompson says creating the music is one of the most challenging parts of the project. He'll sometimes find people on YouTube who can recreate some of the instrumental music because of copyright issues.
"A couple of times I'll have friends who will make beats for the videos and that's fun to see," he said.
Thompson does freelance video work and is also a substitute teacher. He says everyone now and then his students will recognize him then he'll remind them who he is.
"I'm a teacher, not an entertainer, when I'm teaching," Thompson said.
