Nazir’s song “One Pound Fish” has become a worldwide hit, securing the top position in UK Asian Chart, #5 in UK Dance Chart and #29 in UK singles chart. This song is also available on iTunes.
Korean rapper Psy recently posted a record 1 billion YouTube views for his viral music video for “Gangnam Style” earlier this month. Now, a Pakistani fishmonger wants international fame.
Muhammad Shahid Nazir video for his song, “One Pound Fish,” although the views are probably inflated, he has surpassed 12 million views on YouTube. He also also landed a record deal with Warner Music. Additionally, the people in Pakistan are so proud of Nazir that the country reportedly lifted its YouTube ban so citizens can watch “One Pound Fish” and celebrate his Internet stardom.
Business Insider explains how Nazir’s phenomenon of a song came about:
Nazir made up a song, “One Pound Fish,” which he sang to bait customers for the Upton Park market stall where he sold fish. Colin Miller, a British Web designer, filmed him nine months ago. But the video didn’t start going crazy until early December. Now there’s an “o-fish-al” music video and Nazir’s returned to Pakistan, where he’s being celebrated for his global Internet pop-culture victory. He’s far from touching the record set in 2012 by Korean pop artist Psy, whose “Gangnam Style” beat out longtime champion Justin Bieber for the most-watched video on YouTube with 1 billion views.
As Business Insider also notes, the bizarre song and video provides more proof of the “transformative power” of YouTube to “disseminate mass culture globally in the blink of an eye.”