“Gangnam Style in Gangnam” Trend Explained (Not the Horse Dance)
Where the viral 2026 Gangnam Style trio night selfie came from, why it spread to 19M plays, the AI wave that followed and how to make your own.
Oraclip Team
If your feed is suddenly full of three friends singing "Gangnam Style" into a phone on a Seoul street at night, that is not a 2012 throwback. It is a new trend, "gangnam style in gangnam", that started on TikTok in October 2026 and turned into one of the month's biggest AI remakes. Here is where it came from, why it spread, and how people are making their own.
Try it with your friends: Gangnam Style AI →
The original video
On 5 October 2026, TikTok creator @emiliyyam posted a short clip captioned "gangnam style in gangnam". Three friends stand on a street in Gangnam, the Seoul district the song is named after, at night: office towers with lit windows, street lamps, passing cars and South Korean flags on tall poles. PSY's "Gangnam Style" plays while they pass the front camera around.
The structure is what made it stick:
- Group selfie. All three squeeze into one arm's-length shot.
- 1st solo. Close-up of the friend holding the phone, singing to the lens.
- 2nd solo. A friend by the road: a hair flip, a hand on the chest, a wave.
- Whip pan. A fast swing of the camera.
- 3rd solo. A friend in front of a glass lobby, both hands in the hair.
- Palm to the lens. Back to the phone holder, who pushes a palm into the camera.
By 26 October the post had about 19.1 million plays and 3.1 million likes on TikTok.
Why it spread
- The joke is the place. Singing "Gangnam Style" literally in Gangnam is instantly funny, and the flags and towers make the location obvious.
- It is built for three. Everyone gets a solo, so it is a natural "tag your two friends" video.
- It is easy to copy, hard to film. Most people aren't in Seoul at night with two friends, which is exactly where AI comes in.
The AI wave
From 12 October, AI versions appeared: people putting themselves and their friends on that street, then film characters, cartoon trios and pets. Between 19 and 23 October tutorials and CapCut templates each passed a million views, and from 24 October dedicated AI trend pages and the tag #gangnamstyleai took off.
The AI versions keep the street, the flags, the camera moves and the order of the shots, and swap in three new people. That is also how Oraclip's Gangnam Style AI page works: upload three photos in solo order and Seedance 2.0 Mini films the three of you in the same night selfie, 15 seconds, in 16:9 or 9:16, for 370 credits (Std 480p) or 760 (HD 720p).
Is it the horse dance?
No. PSY's 2012 music video made the horse-riding dance famous; the 2026 trend has no horse dance at all. It is about the place and the trio selfie. If you search "Gangnam Style AI" and find AI covers of the song or horse-dance videos, those are different things.
What about the music?
The original posts use PSY’s recording through TikTok’s music library. Oraclip’s clips come with that same original sound from the trend post, cut exactly like the shots the model follows, so the lyrics line up with your version. The song belongs to its rights holders (PSY, YG Entertainment) and Oraclip does not license it to you. You also get a silent copy if you’d rather add the sound inside TikTok.
Ready to make yours? Read how to make the Gangnam Style AI video, or grab the exact prompt.
Put your trio in the Gangnam Style trend →
Oraclip is not affiliated with PSY, P NATION, YG Entertainment, TikTok or @emiliyyam. Play and like counts were read on 26 October 2026.