What is the Gangnam Style AI trend?
It is not the horse dance. On 5 October 2026 three friends filmed a night selfie on a street in Gangnam, Seoul, singing along to PSY's "Gangnam Style", with the phone whipping to each of them for a close-up solo. @emiliyyam's clip passed 18 million plays, and from 12 October people remade it with AI: Harry, Ron and Hermione at Hogwarts, Gandalf, Frodo and Aragorn, actors in suits and friends from a single photo.
Template motion: the 21-second night selfie posted by @emiliyyam on 5 October 2026. Sound: PSY's "Gangnam Style" as heard in that clip. @emiliyyam on TikTok
Why it uses the original clip
The fun is in the camera: the handheld selfie, the fast whip pans and every pout and hair flip landing where they do in the original. This generator uses the original night selfie as the motion guide and films it again with the faces from your photos. The model makes at most 15 seconds at a time, so the 21 seconds are made in two parts that are joined inside a whip pan, where the blur hides the cut.
How the Gangnam Style AI trend went viral
- July 15, 2012: PSY posts the official "Gangnam Style" music video. It becomes the first YouTube video to pass a billion views. YouTube
- October 5, 2026: Three friends film "gangnam style in gangnam": a night selfie on a Gangnam street, each taking a solo, under the Korean flags. By 25 October: 18.7 million plays and 3 million likes. TikTok
- October 12, 2026: The earliest AI version we could find, captioned as a trend that was already big abroad. TikTok
- October 19, 2026: A Russian tutorial shows three actors doing the selfie by a glass building, then how to make it: 3.2 million plays, the most-watched AI version. TikTok
- October 19, 2026: "Hogwarts Gamgamstyle Night": Harry, Ron and Hermione do the selfie in the snow in front of the castle. 1 million plays. TikTok
- October 23, 2026: CapCut template videos for the trend spread in Arabic, Russian, Vietnamese and Spanish. TikTok
Play counts were read on October 25, 2026 and keep changing.
The Gangnam Style AI trend, beat by beat
- 0–2.5s
All three squeezed into one selfie frame under the Korean flags, singing.
- 2.5–4.7s
The phone turns to the friend in the middle: a pout to the lens.
- 4.7–8.3s
Whip pan to the friend on the right: a hair flip, hands through the hair.
- 8.3–12.1s
Whip pan to the friend on the left, by a lit glass lobby.
- 12.1–16s
Whip pan back to the middle friend for a second solo.
- 16–21s
The phone pulls back: all three together again, singing the chorus and waving.
How to make the Gangnam Style AI trend
- You and two friends: One to three photos of people or pets; empty spots get invented friends.
How to make a Gangnam Style video
Pick your photos
Your photo first: you are the main one in the middle. Add up to two friends or a pet; empty spots get invented friends.
Choose the place
Gangnam at night like the original, a snowy castle, or Tokyo neon.
Generate
Pick the quality and press Generate. The two parts are made at the same time and joined. Failed videos are refunded automatically.
Post
Download the 21-second MP4, post it with #gangnamstyle and label it as AI-generated.
Make the Gangnam Style AI trend yourself: what the prompt needs
The camera is the trend, so a text prompt alone gives you a generic party selfie. Use a model that takes a reference video as well as photos, such as Seedance 2.0, with the original night selfie as the motion guide.
- Split the 21 seconds: Most models stop at 15 seconds. Cut the clip in two inside the whip pan at about 12 seconds and generate each part with the same photos.
- Map photos to places: Say who stands in the middle, on the left and on the right, and in which order the solos come.
- Fix the invented friends: With one photo, describe the two invented friends in detail in both parts, or they change between the parts.
- Never copy the original: Say the faces come only from your photos, not from the three women in the clip.
- Add the song after: Join the parts, then lay the clip's sound from the first frame so the solos land on the music.
Gangnam Style guides
How to Do the Gangnam Style AI Trend
How to make the Gangnam Style AI video with one photo: the night selfie in Gangnam it copies, the 21 seconds shot by shot, solo, friends and pet versions, the do-it-yourself method and the mistakes to avoid.
Photo tips for Gangnam Style
- Use one sharp photo per person, with only that person in it. The video has big close-ups, so a clear face matters more than the whole body.
- Everyone keeps the clothes from their photo. A night-out outfit looks most like the original.
- For a pet, use a clear photo of one animal with its face visible. It sits up on its hind legs and sings with the trio.
Who to cast
- You and your two best friends on your Seoul trip
- Your group chat as a K-pop trio
- You, your partner and your dog
- Three generations of your family
