HIS BIOGRAPHY: The Reimagining of Rain

RAIN STATS

— BY Stephe @ Cloud USA ^@@^

Name (Romanized): Jung Ji-Hoon

Birth name Hangul: 정지훈 Hanja: 鄭智薰
Also known as (with Romanizations): Rain (in the West) / 비 (Bi) Korea/ ピ (Pi)  Japan / 雨 (Yu) (Vu) China

Birthdate: June 25, 1982
Height, Weight: 6′ 1″, 180 lbs (185 cm, 82 kg, according to his military health check at enlistment, late 2011)
Blood Type: O (Article link: “Personalities by Blood Type” at Korea4Expats.com)
Debut: April 24, 2002 on KM Show Music Tank (introduced), and April 28, 2002 on SBS Inkigayo (competed); 1st album (n001); 1st song released (“Bad Guy”/Nappeun Namja)
Hobby: Watching movies, listening to music, fashion
Specialty: Acting, dancing, singing, producing, designing, modeling, philanthropy
Ideal Woman: One who makes a first good impression, and who is stylish and charming
Nickname: Woody, puppy
Motto: Endless effort, endless endeavor, endless modesty
Favorite Actors: Charlie Chaplin, Han Seok-Kyu
Favorite Singers: Michael Jackson, Janet Jackson, Usher

EDUCATION

High School: Anyang High School of Arts, Anyang, Gyeonggi

College: Kyung Hee University (Post Modern Music Major/Media)

Graduate School: Kyung Hee University of Art Fusion Design. After completing two semesters there in Performing Arts, Rain transferred to DanKook University‘s Graduate School of Drama and Arts Affairs, in order to receive formal training in acting as he has in music. He’s currently studying as a Total Art Major. Finishing up with this Masters Degree has only been delayed because of his heavy concert and movie schedules over the past few years.

 

Rain’s Office mailing address (admin):

비 / 정지훈
레이니 엔터테인먼트
서울시 강남구 청담동 121-28 1층
우편번호 135-955
Seoul, South Korea

(Romanized)
Bi Rain / Jung JiHoon
Rainy Entertainment, Inc.
1st floor, 121-28 Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul-si
Zip code 135-955
Seoul, South Korea

Email questions concerning Rain: rainyent@gmail.com

{*PLEASE NOTE 4/25/2013: Rain is now a sergeant, so please replace Corporal with Sergeant in your written correspondence. Thank you!}

Jung JiHoon’s military address as of March 13, 2012, after his division change to Army PR:

서울시 용산구 두텁바위로 54-99

국방홍보원 홍보지원대 대외협력팀

병장 정지훈

우편번호 : 140-833

—

Sergeant Jung JiHoon (Rain)

External Relations Team

Defense Agency for Public Information Services

Duteopbawi-ro 54-99, Yongsan-gu, zip code 140-833

Seoul, South Korea

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Rain’s current mailing address in the military, after finishing basic training and beginning his formal duties :

경기도 연천군 청산면 궁평리 사서함 106-12호 8210부대 신병교육대대 12중대

이병 정지훈 우편번호 486-851, South Korea

[Address deconstruction and Romanization by Stephe @Cloud USA ^@@^, for your information only: 

경기도 (Gyeonggi-do / Gyeonggi Province)
연천군 (Yeoncheon-gun / Yeoncheon County)
청산면 (Cheongsan-myeon / Cheongsan Township)
궁평리 (Gungpyeong-ri / Gungpyeong Village)
사서함 106-12호 (Mailbox No. 106-12)
8210부대 신병교육대대 (8210 Recruit Training Center Battalion)
12중대 (12th Company)
이병 정지훈 (Private Jung JiHoon)
우편번호 486-851 (Zip code 486-851) South Korea]

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J.TUNE CAMP
402 Hyundae Building
32-6 Cheongdam-dong, Kangnam-gu,
Seoul, South Korea 135-100

↑ WRITE RAIN OR SEND HIM GIFTS HERE. (re-confirmed by J.Tune via The Cloud 2/18/2011)

146-7 Samsung-dong
Kangnam-gu
Building 1, 5th Floor
Seoul, South Korea

J.TUNE ENTERTAINMENT Co., Ltd.
4F  89-8 Cheongdam-dong
Kangnam-gu
Zip code (135-101)
Seoul, South Korea
Office : +82 2 3447 1620
Fax : +82 2 3447 1619

J.TUNE CREATIVE Co., Ltd.
3F 89-8 Cheongdam-dong
Kangnam-gu
Zip code (135-101)
Seoul, South Korea
Office : +82 2 3447 1620
Fax : +82 2 3447 1619

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» Cloud USA’s original article, How Old is Jung Ji-Hoon? (What Is Korean Age?) — BY Stephe @ Cloud USA ^@@^

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His Biography: The Reimagining of Rain

  ~BY Terri :-} @ Cloud USA

INTRODUCTION

~BY Terri :-} @ Cloud USA

“Before I made my debut, I was talking to my producer about which stage name to use. He said that I give an impression of sadness when I’m dancing. So, I decided on the character “Bi,” which means sadness, as sad as rain falling. That’s why I chose this name.” — Rain, in an interview with CNN’s Talk Asia, December 2005

I’m betting some of my good old US dollars that if you’ve managed to find your way to Cloud USA, you already know something about Rain. Otherwise, I doubt you would even know this site existed in the first place.

You probably at least know that he’s one of the hottest personalities surfing the crest of the new Korean Wave known as Hallyhu, and that his star is already shining brightly over Asia. Or you might know enough to call yourself a “Cloud,” which is what Rain likes to call his official fans. And if you are a Cloud, then you’ll know that “Rain” isn’t his real name. You’ll know that his real name is Jung Ji-Hoon, and that the name “Rain” came later, when he chose the Hangul character 비 “Bi” as his stage name. (The Hangul character “Bi” happens to translate into English as “Rain.”)

You’ll also know that Rain was born on June 25, 1982 and that his blood type is O. You’ll have heard that he grew up in Sinchon, a lower-class maze of streets in western Seoul, close to Hongik University, near an area called Hongdae. You’ll remember that he lived there with his mother, father, and his little sister, Hanna.

You’ll have read somewhere that his favorite color is white (and black—apparently he has two favorite colors). You’ll have noticed that he likes dogs. And you somehow will have learned that whenever he’s asked, he’ll say he wants a woman who is “pretty, sexy, kind and likes to cook.” (My. What a surprise.)

But wait just a minute. As nice as these facts are to know, what do they really tell you about Rain? What do they tell you about the boy who somehow managed to pull himself out of abject poverty to become one of the hottest Korean stars today? What do they tell you about the man who is already well on his way to achieving his dream of becoming a “world star?”

The answer, my friends, is not nearly enough.

Every good writer knows that to get to the heart of a good story, you have to dig past the hard outer crust, dive into the gooey, messy center and swim around for a good, long while. No matter what you’re writing about, that’s not easily done, but it’s especially difficult when you’re writing about celebrities, because most of them play it so close to the vest, that it’s difficult to get a real glimpse of what matters the most to the fans that love them—the passion that drove them to do what it is they do and the dream that makes them keep on doing it.

But then, sometimes, we get lucky. Sometimes, we are asked to write about someone like Rain—a person who’s so generous with the details of his life and the possibilities of his dreams that all we have to do is dive in and start doing the backstroke. Which is exactly what I did.

Care to join me for a swim? The water’s fine. I promise.

Terri :-}

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PART I

— BY Terri :-} @ Cloud USA

“The young Ji-Hoon was a child in serious poverty. He once starved for five days because there was no food. He always wondered, why is the world so harsh to me? Imagine how it was for a child throughout high school and middle school thinking, why does the world make me suffer? Why has the world turned its back on me?”—Rain, in the MBC Special: Rain is Coming

When I think of this man called Rain, I think of much more than the professional singer, dancer, actor, model, and clothing designer he is today. I think of the boy who discovered how much he loved to dance when he was in sixth grade, during a talent show on a school trip. I think of the young man who, when he debuted in 2002, won every newcomer music award possible. I think of the man who became the first Korean to star in a Hollywood feature film.

I also imagine him scrounging up whatever food he could for his mother and sister, so that they wouldn’t starve. I see him drinking preciously-saved water in the middle of the night, in the dark, and discovering that the tea grounds he thought he was chewing up were really roach eggs. I envision him down on his knees begging his landlord not to evict him and his little sister into the frigid winter streets as his mother lay dying in the hospital. I watch him wonder if his father will ever come home from Brazil, send money, do something—anything—to help them make it through. I cringe at the heartache he clearly feels every time he tries to sing Can’t Get Used To, a song dedicated to his mother, who didn’t live to see him win the 2004 KBS Daesang Award—the award he promised to win just for her.

Rain doesn’t talk much about his early and happier childhood. There are several family pictures out there in cyberspace that clearly show a happy Jung family, one in which the children look well-fed and pleasantly content. Yet, despite all appearances, it was a happiness that proved to be short-lived. As the Korean economy began to slow, the family began to have serious money troubles. When his business finally folded, Rain’s father was forced to declare bankruptcy. It was then that the ragged seams of Ji-Hoon’s life really began to unravel.

He was a kid who dreamed of singing and dancing for a living. It would have been a big dream for a kid from even the most privileged of homes in Seoul, but it was gargantuan for someone as poverty stricken as Rain. Not usually one of the best of students anyway, Rain began to cut class to spend his days on the streets learning to dance. He hung out with older and tougher kids—kids who thought nothing of stealing the change out of his pockets, or the clothes off of his back. He didn’t care. All he cared about was that they could teach him how to dance.

He battled for spots on underground dance teams, entered amateur competitions—literally fought to survive. “If you look at my face now,” Rain said, “you’ll see the bridge of my nose sticks out. That’s because I broke it many times fighting. I couldn’t buy food because I didn’t have any money. I just starved. I had no choice. I’ve slept on the streets, and I’ve been through a lot of hardship. But I wasn’t ever lonely—because I had my dancing.”1

In interview after interview, Rain speaks of the overwhelming obstacles of a life lived on the jagged edge. One harsh winter night, as his mother languished in a hospital bed they couldn’t afford, his family situation reached a crisis point. Their landlord met Ji-Hoon at the door and told him that their room had been rented out to someone else, and that they needed to get out—now. “…I did not shed tears easily, but I begged the landlord on my knees,” Rain said. “I begged him to consider my family’s situation…I was in despair. The room wasn’t warm either. My sister wrapped herself tightly in blankets and sat in the cold room. Everybody [in the street] looked so happy for the holiday season, with Christmas near. Why was only I suffering this? In the bathroom, I folded two towels into my mouth, and I cried silently. I was afraid to be heard by my sister. I felt too ashamed [to her], to myself as well. I cried really hard that time.”2

A caring relative took the children in, but it was a long time before Ji-Hoon forgave others for the harsh treatment he received at their hands. And he certainly has never forgotten it. “I have the han of being looked down upon by so many people. It made me even more determined to succeed. Actually, the moment the cameras start rolling, I can destroy something or smash a house and then just say that it was part of the shoot. Sometimes, I want to hit people I dislike, or confess my love to someone I care about. I could blame the world for doing this to me as an excuse to be destructive, but I hold it all in, and then when I’m shooting, I let it all go.”1

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PART II

— BY Terri :-} @ Cloud USA

“I just kept dancing for 3 to 4 hours. My whole body was covered in sweat that day. It was a really tough audition. But I felt it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. But even to this day, I still don’t know why he made me dance for 3 or 4 hours, when he didn’t need to.” — Rain, in Discovery Channel’s Hip Korea: Seoul Vibes: Jihoon Jung

Rain’s dream of becoming a professional dancer/singer must have seemed hopeless next to his daily struggle for survival. No one would have blamed him if he had given up. But he didn’t give up. Instead, he kept on practicing, kept auditioning, kept trying to find a way to break into the music business somewhere, somehow. Someday.

Finally, in the 8th grade, his first real break came in the guise of a boy band called Fanclub. He wasn’t their first or second choice as a member of the band. He wasn’t even their last choice. It was only by happenstance and as an afterthought that he was chosen at all, when one of the band’s producers noticed Rain dancing in a practice room with several of his friends and asked the other band members if he could join the group.

“At the beginning, Fanclub had 5 members,” said Fanclub member KHS, “Our goal was to compete with a five-member group called H.O.T. Every day, after practice, you could see in the company, in the practice room, Ji-Hoon always practicing, dancing alone. He was pale and tall, didn’t seem to be very good at dancing, but the manager saw him practicing very hard and sweating. So, the manager decided he should be in the group. He asked “Is it okay to let that person in? Let’s let him in… So, we said okay…”2

Not yet a professional dancer, Rain worked feverishly to catch up with the other boys. It wasn’t long, though, before he proved himself to be a leading force. “Out of all the members, he was the worst, in a way,” said Ho Sung Kim. “He couldn’t even rap. But then after three or four months, he started catching up with me. Gradually, over time, Ji-Hoon began surpassing me.”1

Fan Club made their debut in 1996. By the release of their second album, Rain had moved up to the lead position. But then, the company backing the promising new boy band went under. And Rain found himself standing in audition lines once again. He knew he still had a lot to learn as a dancer and a singer, but he had already come so far. He had already experienced so much failure that he just knew success had to be right around the corner. All he had to do was find the strength to somehow keep on going.

It wasn’t easy. Everywhere he went he faced rejection—and for every reason imaginable. He couldn’t dance. He couldn’t sing. He was too tall. He didn’t have double-eyelids. He was ugly. Another less stubborn person might have called it quits, but not Rain. Instead, Rain stood up straighter, walked taller, dug in his heels, and became even more determined to succeed.

“I remember going to auditions before my debut, and I was rejected twelve times,” Rain said. “I was told back then that the reason I was rejected was because my face was too ugly. I was even told to come back after cosmetic surgery! In fact, I was told after one audition that my singing and dancing was great, but that I didn’t make it because I didn’t have double eyelids. How do you think I felt at that time?”3

After a long series of failed auditions, Rain finally managed to finagle a meeting with Park Jin-Young, otherwise known as JYP. It was a lucky break for Rain, because JYP, a famous Korean pop singer in his own right and founder of JYP Entertainment, was actively scouting for new talent.

During that fateful audition, Rain danced for several hours, on a stomach that had been empty for four days. “He went to eighteen other companies before my company,” said JYP, about the first time he met Rain. “And when he came in, I was shocked by how desperate the kid looked. Usually kids come in like normal kids, but he came in like a tiger who was about to starve to death. So, he had this pride in him, but he was mad at the world. I knew I was going to pick him as soon as he walked in the door. The audition was about two hours long, I think. ‘Do this. Try this. Try that. Try this. Try that. How about that? Try this.’ It was two hours long, and then I said, ‘Okay. Maybe the company will contact you.’”1

When Rain finally heard from JYP Entertainment, it was only to learn that he had made it to the training phase. That meant that he had to show up at the academy and practice anyway, not really knowing if he would get a spot even as a back-up dancer, much less as a solo act. “Getting through the audition wasn’t the end of it,” Rain said. “There was a test every week. We practiced singing for three hours a day and danced for six hours a day. I think I spent nine hours a day practicing and practicing.”1

Still, it was the break Rain had waited for. He gave it everything he had.

JYP was relentless. He rarely gave Rain compliments, tested him at every turn, and threatened constantly to withdraw his support. For two years, Rain worked on his singing and dancing. He was even required to attend university classes, something he wasn’t all too keen about.4

Despite the turmoil going on in his personal life, Rain somehow managed to keep it together throughout the torturous training and in the face of scathing criticism. Then, tragedy struck.

One day Rain showed up at the dance studio with a grim look on his face. JYP noticed and asked him what was wrong. Rain wasn’t one to talk about his problems, but he finally confessed that his mother was desperately ill and that he didn’t know what to do.

“He had the motivation. He was really desperate. But I didn’t know,” JYP said. “I didn’t know until that day Rain came to me and say ‘Hyung.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ ‘Can you help me?’ I knew something was terribly wrong with him. I said, ‘What?’ He said, ‘My mom’s sick.’ I’m like, ‘Why didn’t you tell me before now? Hop in the car!’ So, I personally drove the car to his house. And then this small house had a cold floor, no heating. And his mom was lying on the cold floor. And she had diabetes. Like I wanted to like kill Rain for not telling me this. So, I put her in my car and I drove her to the biggest hospital in Korea. But I found out it was already too little, too late.”1

It was a terrible time for Rain. Here he was about to make his dream come true, and the person he most wanted to witness it was dying. Despite JYP’s efforts and Rain’s quiet desperation, his mother passed away. She would never know of her son’s success.

“The last thing I did for my mother was I bought one of those—those instant three-minute seaweed soup packs.” Rain said. “She really enjoyed it though. But that was all we had when I was in high school. I regret that to this very day and feel guilty about it. And mother…I was always—after all this time—to talk about it…it’s difficult to reopen old wounds. But when she couldn’t get treatment because we couldn’t afford it, that suffering, for all of us, is unspeakable. It really is. I’m telling you. Nobody helps and nobody wants to know.”5

Her untimely death made Rain even more determined to achieve his dream.

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PART III

— BY Terri :-} @ Cloud USA

“Fine, if your [the world's] back is turned, then I’ll show you. I’ll go down fighting. That’s why I’m here today. There are just two reasons I work so hard: to never be hungry again, and for my mother—a promise I made to my mother.” — Rain, in the MBC Special: Rain is Coming

Even after he had achieved a modicum of success, even after he had debuted with JYP as a back-up dancer and then as a solo act, Rain’s stardom didn’t come easy. After several years of training, Ji-Hoon’s first album under his new stage name “Bi,” and his first single, Napoon Namja (Bad Guy) were finally released.

Bad Guy was a promising song, and Rain’s hope was that it would provide him with a strong foundation on which he could begin to build a solid career. His hope vanished though, when a month after the song’s release, the 2002 FIFA World Cup came to Korea.

Rain was forced to a decision point as football fever burned like wildfire across the entire nation and interest in Bad Guy faded. Should he forget about the first album and pin all his hopes on a second album release? Or should he release a follow-up single from the first album and pray that people would start listening to his music? He finally made the decision to release a second track. The second single, Instead of Saying Goodbye, shot to the top of the charts in less than a month.

Finally, Rain could feel the wheel of fortune spinning in his favor, as people began to sit up and take notice. “With the follow-up track, I hit number one in two weeks,” Rain said. “That track supported me so well at the time. I think it was so successful because I didn’t fall back and decided to give it one more go. But if I’d given up like a spineless fool, I don’t think I would be here today.”5

Rain’s star was on the rise. He knew it was only a matter of time before that star would either fade into the black backdrop of the universe or begin to glimmer with the possibilities. He also knew that making his star shine was his job alone. He dove into the spotlight with abandon, entering one music contest after another. He found himself winning again and again—and again.

In 2002, he won the KBS Award: Best New Artist. He also won the M.NET Male Artist Award, the Korean MTV New Male Artist Award, the MBC Top10 Artist Award, and the SBS New Male Performer of the Year Award. In 2003 he did more of the same. In 2004, he finally won the KBS Daesang Award, the award he had promised his mother he would win in her honor. In 2005, he danced away with the coveted MTV Asia Grand Slam, securing top honors in all the Asian countries that broadcast MTV Asia. To date, he has won over 30 awards for his body of work.

Korean television producers and directors were also watching and eagerly waiting to cash in on the rising star. During his debut Rain was cast in several televisions series. In 2002, he worked on a situational comedy entitled Orange. Then, in 2003, he landed the lead in a television drama entitled Sangdoo, Let’s Go To School. Film industry professionals were extremely impressed by Rain’s work in Sangdoo and looked forward to casting him in even more ambitious projects.

In spite of his busy schedule, he also somehow managed to find the time to keep working on his music. His second album entitled How To Avoid The Sun, was released in October 2003, under the English translation of his name.  For the first time, “Bi” became “Rain.” His third, It’s Raining, followed a year later, in October 2004. His fourth, Rain’s World, was released in October 2006.

In 2004, he starred in a Korean drama entitled “Full House,” a sixteen-episode series based on a popular manhwa (comic book). Full House went on to become one of the highest-rated Korean dramas of all time, with ratings of over 40% at its peak, and over 30% for every single episode. Rain’s performance in Full House also won him the Best Actor Award at the KBS Acting Awards.

“Rumors of a romance with his adorable co-star Hae Kyo Song fueled the popularity of the series as it played across Asia, Europe, and even the US. The series was so popular that in Hong Kong, Thailand, and Singapore, half the entire primetime television audience tuned in to watch. The series was played out against the backdrop of a new Hip Seoul, attractive and enticing—a natural habitat for the eye candy characters and their upscale, urban lives. The series resonated with audiences who found the combo of a fashionable lifestyle, a hip, modern Seoul, and good old-fashioned Asian values irresistable.”1

On an impressive shelf full of awards, Rain also began to arrange an impressive list of firsts. He was the first Korean to become both an actor and a singer. He was the first Korean to embark on an East-Asia tour. He was the first Asian performing artist ever to be invited to the 2005 American MTV Video Music Awards in Miami, as well as to the 2005 MTV Latin Video Music Awards in Mexico. In 2007, he was the first Korean to perform at the Tokyo Dome, Japan’s largest auditorium, a venue he filled with over 30,000 adoring fans.

Rain has also changed the face of male Korean beauty everywhere, even outside of Asia. At the beginning of his career, it wasn’t unusual for someone to tell him he had talent, but that he was just too ugly to be a performer. Still, he was the first Korean male to appear on the cover of Harper’s Bazaar Magazine. And in 2007, People Magazine named him one of the world’s most beautiful people. More importantly, his beauty caught the eye of film directors across the globe.

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PART IV

— BY Terri :-} @ Cloud USA

“All the talents I learned from Jin Young hyung have been stored within my body. I combined his talents and mine and I made my music different from his. So, instead of saying me and Jin Young hyung are competitors, it’s more appropriate to say that we are like partners now. Jin Young hyung always says the same thing too.”  — Rain, in Shin Hae Chul’s Special Edition Interview

Impressed with his work in Full House, Korean director Kim Kyu Tae cast Rain as the lead in another television melodrama entitled A Love to Kill. Only this time he would be playing Bok-gu, a darker, tragic hero obsessed with seeking revenge against his brother’s ex-lover.  Penned by writer Lee Kyung-hee (who also wrote Sangdoo, Let’s Go To School), A Love to Kill gave Rain the opportunity to show the film world his dynamic dramatic range.

In 2006, Park Chan-Wook cast him as the lead in the romantic comedy/surrealist film I’m a Cyborg but that’s OK. Although Cyborg wasn’t a box office success, the film won the Alfred Bauer Award at the 57th Berlin International Film Festival and was selected as the opening film for the Hong Kong International Film Festival. Rain was also nominated for and won Best New Actor at the 43rd Baeksang Awards for his role in Cyborg.

In 2007, Rain also won the number one spot on TIME Magazine’s online user poll list of “The 100 Most Influential People who Shape the World.” Popular American comedian Stephen Colbert, of The Colbert Report, came in at number two. He couldn’t believe that someone, especially someone he’d never even heard of, had beaten him out of the top spot. Colbert fans everywhere are still chuckling over his comedic “Dance-Off” with Rain—which Rain won easily, of course.  Some people, particularly in Asia, didn’t realize until afterwards that Colbert’s “feud” with Rain was only good-natured fun.

“He had came on the show and did his dance, like BANG. Knocked it out,” Colbert said. “We were all just dazzled. It was incredible to be in the presence of someone who clearly was so talented and had dedicated themselves so completely to their art. It really was like, ‘Oh, I’m in the presence of a master.’”1

Soon, even Hollywood directors were coming to call. In 2008, Rain secured a role in Speed Racer, a live action film adaptation of the 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name. The film was written and directed by the Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix Series and V for Vendetta). The Wachowski Brothers were so pleased with Rain’s work that they created another film as a vehicle especially for him, entitled Ninja Assassin. With Ninja Assassin‘s release in November 2009, Rain also became the first Korean to star as a lead in a major Hollywood film.

Rain continued to push himself even beyond the music and the film industries. His fashion company, SixToFive (the numbers represent his birth date, 6/25, as well as his idea of having an extra sense, six instead of only five), gave Rain another outlet with which to express his ever-present creativity and with which to release his boundless energy. The company’s fashion line line, conceived and designed by Rain, was launched on December 23, 2008. The launch was followed with a fashion show/launch party and a mini-concert. He served as one of the company’s models throughout its course and up until its closure in mid-2010.

In 2007, Rain finally found himself at a music crossroads. For seven years he had trained with JYP and had released four Korean albums and a number of cross-language albums and singles under his caring tutelage. The problem was Rain was becoming too big even for JYP to handle. “He needed a system totally for him, “JYP said. “And if I had to do that, I would have had to use more than half of my [JYP Entertainment's] system just for him.”1

The professional relationship with JYP Entertainment wasn’t working anymore. The obvious solution was for Rain to step out and set up his own company, one that could focus solely on him and his career. On October 6, 2008, his new company, J.Tune Entertainment, released Rain’s fifth album, entitled Rainism.

Rainism was incredibly important to Rain. Not only was it his first project as an independent music producer, but it was also the first work he would present to the world as a man and not a boy. The first single from the album, “Love Story”, instantly became another hit, but its title song, “Rainism”, caused problems when Korea’s Commission of Youth Protection declared not only the song Rainism, but also the entire album “inappropriate for people under 19 years old.” Apparently, the now incredibly sexy man called Rain and his “magic stick” were a little too hot for some people to handle.

Happily though, his fans embraced Rain’s transformation into a more sultry and more mature performer. Even JYP was somewhat relieved. “I was worried that he could never look sexy,” JYP said, “because usually sexy people have a little bit of a bad, naughty side to them. But this kid was too good, too genuine. That was—well, now, of course, I don’t have to worry about that.”1

Rain’s album sales began to soar and suddenly he was on his way. Nothing could stop him—not the censors, not a flop film, not cancelled concerts—not even frivolous international lawsuits. No, nothing could stand in the path of this perfect storm called Rain.

To this day, Clouds of all ages line up to buy his music, watch his films, rush to airports to see his arrivals and departures, and flock to his concerts. In 2006, Rain performed his sold-out Rainy Day concert in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, and in January 2010, in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung National Stadium, Rain entertained over 30,000 fans during the final performance of his Legend of Rainism tour. Having finished its American debut and long, multi-country theater run overseas, Ninja Assassin continues to sell to consumers and to be broadcast by cable, satellite, and local networks across the globe, and Clouds everywhere are waiting anxiously to support his next new projects.

What is it about Rain that makes his fans flock to his side whenever and wherever he appears? What compels them to build fansites in a myriad of different languages in countries all over the world? What causes them to buy his albums, put up his posters, watch his DVDs, wear his fashion?

Is it his sex appeal? Is it his gorgeous, husky voice? Is it his triumph over the extreme challenges of his youth? Or is it the fact that he has achieved more in his twenties than most people could hope to achieve in an entire lifetime?

For most of us, it’s a lot simpler than all of that. For most of us, there’s something basic about Rain that speaks to us, something beyond his drive, his talent, and even his charisma. It’s something that many of us don’t experience nearly enough in their own lives, even with their own friends and families. It’s something called honesty.

Rain once said, “If you are truthful, most people will like you. It is important to be able to say, honestly, if there is something that you cannot do. Just like it is important to acknowledge the things that you do do well, so that you can ask people to enjoy them with you. That’s my approach, and I think this is why my fans like me.”6

You’re right, Rain. Your sincerity is one of the things we like the most about you. A lot. It’s refreshing. It’s cleansing. It’s so very—well, it’s so very Rain.

So, in the spirit of sincerity, your USA Clouds would like you to know something. As far as we’re concerned, you’ve already achieved your dream.

In our eyes, Rain, you are already a world star.

Honestly.

Cited Sources:
1.  Discovery Channel (Asia Pacific), Hip Korea: Seoul Vibes – Jihoon Jung
2.  Shin Hae Chul Special Edition » Interview I (12/26/08) and » Interview II (01/02/09)

3.  CNN’s Talk Asia » Interview with Rain, 12/14/05
4.  Pop Goes Korea, » The Reign of Rain, by Mark James Russell
5.  Rain is Coming MBC Special
6.  CNN’s Talk Asia » Interview With Rain, 10/29/09

Other Sources:

Rain’s Official Website (new)

Rain’s Official Website (old)
J Tune Entertainment
Rain ZEPP Japan Tour
J Tune Creative (SixToFive)
Cloud USA
“Rain Season Breaks Records Across Asia”, The Chosun Ilbo, October 13, 2005
Walsh, Bryan, “The People Who Shape Our World”, Time Magazine, May 8, 2006
Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of the Year, 2007
People’s 100 Most Beautiful People, 2007
Jeanine Tan, Oldboy director cast Rain for his sex appeal but it’s okay, Channel News Asia, March 8, 2007.
“Rain’s album records sales of over one million copies in Asia”. KBS Global, 2008
“Tickets for Rain’s Hong Kong Concert Sold Out”. KBS Global, 2009.
Rain’s Scent (Profile)
Rain Listings.com
Sixtofive1982.com
Rain Legend.com
Rain OBS Interviews I (January 5, 2008) and II (January 01/12/08)
SBS Star Human Drama, December 19, 2003