Rap sensation PSY has said the pressure to live up to the success of his massive hit Gangnam Style caused him to take his time with his next project.

The South Korean music star is set to release his first album since becoming an international sensation more than three years ago thanks to his catchy song and its famous dance routine.

PSY new album
(Lee Jin-man/AP)

“There were many thoughts going around in my head, including thoughts like ‘If I write like this, it would be not as good as Gangnam Style,’ and ‘If I write like this, the international audience will not understand,’ so it took me a very long time to organise all those thoughts into one,” PSY said at a news conference in Seoul, a day before Chiljip PSY-Da debuts.

Chiljip PSY-Da — which means This Is PSY’s Seventh Album in Korean — comes about a year-and-a-half after the release of his single Gentleman. It’s his first album since 2012, when the single Gangnam Style swept the world and made him a global superstar.

Gangnam Style, part of the album PSY 6, recorded 2.46 billion views on YouTube, becoming the most viewed YouTube video of all-time.

PSY’s new album has songs of various genres, including dance music, hip-hop and punk.

PSY
(Lee Jin-man/AP)

He said he tried to include many emotions, including happiness, anger, sadness, joy, love, hatred and greed, as he had done in his past albums.

“Because this is an album that retains my continued desire as a lyric writer who wants to try things other than love songs in a movie-like way, there are several genres,” he said.