The rapper’s tear-jerking power ballad See You Again has overtaken Gangnam Style with 2.9bn views. What makes the song so popular?

Move over, Psy: why Wiz Khalifa is the new king of YouTube

Name: Wiz Khalifa.

Real name: Cameron Thomaz.

Age: 29.

Appearance: Thin rapper, dreadlocks, almost completely covered in tattoos.

He’ll regret that at job interviews when he’s older. I doubt he’ll need to go to job interviews ever again, to be honest. He is a very successful musician. He also sells his own brand of cannabis, Khalifa Kush.

How enterprising. If you were a bit younger you would know all about Khalifa, because his song See You Again (featuring Charlie Puth) was a massive hit a couple of years ago, topping the charts for weeks all over the world.

Who is Charlie Puth? He co-wrote and co-produced the song, and sings half of it.

But he only gets a minor credit? He’s less famous than Khalifa. That’s showbiz. Anyway, See You Again has now surpassed even Psy’s Gangnam Style to become the most-watched video on YouTube with … 2,895,724,605 views.

Hang on. It says 2,895,733,802 when I look at it. Yes, it is going up quite fast. Poor old Gangnam Style only has 2,894,530,989.

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Pathetic. But what has Khalifa made that could possibly be more successful than a novelty Korean pop song? A tear-jerking movie power ballad. See You Again was not just any song, it was written specifically as a tribute to the actor Paul Walker, to be included on the soundtrack to Furious 7, the stupendously successful film that he was working on when he died in a high-speed car accident.

So we’re going back to the 1990s, the land of (Everything I Do) I Do it For You, I Will Always Love You, and My Heart Will Go On? That’s right. But Khalifa brings it up to date.

With some rapping? That’s right. And it is a duet between two men of different races, in different styles, echoing the relationship between Walker and Vin Diesel that runs through the Fast & Furious franchise, scenes from which are cut into the video. It is very clever and well done. Plus, of course, it’s a catchy tune.

Do say: “Why can’t a song about the importance of road safety get 2.9bn views?”

Don’t say: “You don’t really understand young people, do you?”