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It's called "Gangnam Style," a song that's become a Korean pop phenomenon like none before it. 

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Beginning with this music video, it's now been watched by nearly a billion people around the world.

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The catchy tune and matching moves have been snapped up by flash mobs in the U.S., performed by prison inmates in the Philippines; 

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even U.S. pop queen Britney Spears was taught the moves on The Ellen DeGeneres Show by the creator, himself.

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His name is Park Jae-sang, but to most, he's just PSY.

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I didn't expect this kind of thing. I made this song. I made this music video and dance moves just for Korea, not worldwide. 

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I didn't expect anything like talking in CNN, on the VMA. No, crazy, you know.

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A star in his own right in his native South Korea, he spent more than 10 weeks on the U.S. Billboard 100, 

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and snatched the Guinness Book of World Records title for the most liked YouTube video ever, with "Gangnam Style."

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At what age, then, did you start writing music and thinking about lyrics?

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Until freshman [year] of college, I didn't think about, you know, being a musician. So I just convinced them that it's 21st century. 

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I want to study in the bigger world, so... so that I can be a bigger businessman. Please, I want to study abroad.

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So, he allowed me, and I entered Boston University at that time. And as soon as I get to BU, I quit it, and with the tuition, I hang out a little bit.

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Hang out?

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Yeah, hang out a little bit. And, you know, feel the atmosphere about United States. That's why I can speak English, you know, with that hanging out.

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Ultimately, you ended up at the Berklee College of Music.

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Yeah, so I found that Berklee College of Music and in that period -- that was the year of '96-'97, and it was all about hip-hop at that time in the United States. 

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Like, I got influenced by all that kind of hip-hop [music], like Dr. Dre, Snoop Dog, Eminem, you know, 

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like Puff Daddy, like Notorious [B.I.G.], everything. Tupac. 

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So, there was the huge momentum, because at that time I was not that good [a] singer. 

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But when I see the rappers, you know, if I can say the words like fast or if I can say the words like some... 

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So you thought, "I don't need to sing as long as I can say these words in a cool way, maybe I can make it." 

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Yeah. Maybe I can be a singer without singing. So with the tuition, I start[ed] to buy computer and media [stuff] to make a beat and to rap. 

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So I copied all the famous, you know, rappers', you know, lyric[s] and I translated into Korean. 

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I, you know, [redid] it in Korean way and I start[ed] beat, drumbeats and bass coming in. And in that way, I learned composing.

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For someone who has been in the business for more than a decade and, listen, you had your ups and downs in your career, I'm sure. To make it on this level, how does it feel?

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So, my life and my career -- I can say it before and after "Gangnam."  

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And before "Gangnam,"  it's [embarrassing] to say to myself, but I was huge in Korea before "Gangnam."  

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And I was not that, like some boy, girl band, like, hottest then, but I... 

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But you were known.

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... have, like, biggest concert in Korea. So I was well known as [a] concert [performer] in Korea. 

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But after "Gangnam,"  in Korea I'm like a gold medalist right now. 

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They are... you know, every Thursday Korean time -- every Thursday, they never sleep because they are waiting for Billboard [to come] out.

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To see whether you hit number one?

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Yeah.

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Teaching Britney Spears how to do the horse dance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, what was that like?

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So, that was the most nervous moment in my life.

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Come on.

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Really. Because that was my first national TV appearance in the United States. And so, everything was so first-time -- 

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first time meeting Britney, first time meeting Ellen, first time being on national TV. 

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And Britney [didn't] know I was coming there, so I got to be hiding all over. So it was like, when the screen [opened], I popped out. That was the scenario. 

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And right behind the screen, wow, much more nervous than when I debuted, you know?

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In fact, you introduced yourself before you started dancing. Was that because you were nervous?

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No, that was my kind of, you know, strategy, you know? Because... 

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Introduce yourself to the world.

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You know, when I first got scheduled in the United States and when I got on board at [on] the plane, I planned some tactics, you know. What... you know, attitude-wise, from now on, what should I do? 

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So, I set the basic principle at [on] the airplane, which was being a Korean.

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What I meant was, a lot of Asians challenging to the United States, but [the] thing is, [for] some reason, they are pretending like [they are] American. That's what I thought. 

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But I'm not an American. And if I pretend like I'm [an] American, it will be ridiculous, because I'm not an American. 

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I want my [identity], you know, and occupation and nationality -- I want to keep it.