K-Pop Past Meets K-Pop Present as BTS’ Suga Stars in Psy’s ‘That That’ Video
“Gangnam Style” paved the way for the rise of K-pop — and now Psy is tapping the top Korean star of today: BTS’ Suga. On Friday, Psy released his single “That That” from his aptly named new album, Psy 9th. The record, which was also released Friday, is Psy’s first full-length since 2017’s Psy 8th 4X2=8.
The “That That” video features Suga, who also produced the K-pop hitmaker’s record. Rocking cowboy outfits, the two are seen dancing in a saloon and in a car to the catchy tune.
Psy opened up about what it was like to work with the boy band rapper in a video titled “best friends 16 years apart.” “When meeting younger artists, I don’t want to make them feel uncomfortable. I don’t want to be someone who’s hard to approach. He just wasn’t my junior in the business, but also he truly feels like a friend,” Psy said. “It was hard to feel any age gap. If he thinks of me as a bestie, that’s great for me.”
Suga also shared what it was like to work with Psy on the track. “At first, because he’s many years my senior and someone who’s well-respected in the business I was quite nervous. It felt like working with a childhood friend, so it made the songwriting process that much more fun,” Suga said. “We became besties in a way.”
As the collaboration process went on, Suga and Psy built a personal connection he didn’t anticipate. “To be honest, I haven’t gotten that close with anyone I collab with. It’s because I’m not the type to meet up and collaborate in-person,” Suga said in a separate video. “But he wanted to see me in person. While producing, we went back and forth a lot. I seriously didn’t expect to be dancing with Psy. I thought I was only writing the song!”
“That That” is one of 12 tracks on Psy 9th, which also includes tracks “Happier” featuring Crush, “Forever” with Tablo, and “Everyday.” Psy teased “That That” for several days leading up to the song’s debut, sharing visuals from the music video and an image of a cartoon version of himself posing in the desert.
