FACES mags- SPOTLIGHT | RAIN REIGN February 1, 2007
RainFebruary 1, 2007
His Malaysian concert at the Bukit Jalil Stadium on January 27, 2007 may be over, but we can still feel the energy of South Korean superstar, Rain, thumping in our hearts. As one of the biggest K-pop stars, he is currently doing his rounds in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines and as far as the United States as part of his world tour called Rain’s Coming, that kicked off in Seoul on December 15, 2006. FACES follows the trail of the charming singer whose highly-anticipated fourth album Rain’s World was released to surpass most expectations!
It’s Starting To DrizzleWhen Rain was born Jung Ji-hoon in Seoul, South Korea on June 25, 1982, little did he know what was coming in store for him. In his native country, he is known as B, the Korean word for “rain”. Naturally, when he made the decision to take his career to other countries, he stuck to the name Rain to make things easier. In Japan he is known as Rain, but in China, he is sometimes referred to as Yu, which is “rain” in Chinese.
Growing up in the capital of a booming nation, Rain picked up an interest in R&B and hip-hop dancing when he was still in sixth grade of primary school, so much so that at one point, he became a member of a boyband called Fanclub. Even though the group split in the end, Rain was still eager to pursue his dancing career that he entered several auditions and competitions while hoping for his big break to come. Unfortunately, he was deemed “too ugly” at a few auditions. In an industry where double eyelids played a more important role than talent, this caused quite a blow to his confidence. However, when Rain auditioned with an entertainment company called JYP Entertainment, the CEO took notice of him and signed him on. As part of his early training years, the 6’2” Rain became a backup dancer for established singers like Park Ji Yoon and Park Jin Young.
Slowly Pouring DownEven as Rain started to make a name for himself as a dancer before hitting it big as a singing sensation, he chose to use his real name Jung Ji-hoon for his acting career, simply because he wanted to show a different part of himself while he’s acting. His leap into stardom officially kicked off in May 2002, when he debuted with his self-titled album and made headlines with his single called Bad Guy. In the same year, he appeared in a TV series called Orange before starring in Sang Doo! Let’s Go To School – a series that showed off his talents and his unlimited abilities as an actor, the following year.
Rain’s successful foray into the world of singing and acting clinched him six awards in 2002 alone, including KMTV New Male Artist Award, M.NET Male Artist Award and New Artist Golden Disc Award, which was more than the budding talent ever hoped for! No wonder Rain has been referred to as the “Asian Usher” and “Asian Justin Timberlake”, quickly garnering a legion of teenage fans from around the region! His debut concert was a glittering performance that showed off his remarkable dancing and singing skills, thus justifying the rumors that he would one day be among the top of the crop in his country. In fact, it led him to join the ranks of the best singers in Korea, almost overnight!
You Can’t Avoid The RainRain released his second album How To Avoid The Sun with the hit single Ways To Avoid The Sun. Again, the success of this follow-up led him to clinch six more awards in 2003, including M.NET Male Artist Award which he also won the year before, KMTV Male Artist Award, KBS Male Artist Award and SBS Male Performer of the Year Award. When he starred in Full House in 2004, it wasn’t surprising that the TV series became one of the highest rated drama series of all time with ratings of more than 30% for each aired episode. The popularity of the series was so high that it was aired around the region, in countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, China and Japan.
Through Full House, his fan base grew wider and more Asians came to know him as Jung Ji-hoon apart from Rain. In Japan and China, the average program rating was more than 50%, meaning that his popularity as a star was on the verge of being deemed threatening. For this series, his performance won him the Best Actor Award at the KBS Awards. Furthermore, the year 2004 saw the multitalented star win five awards including KBS Artist of the Year, SBS Male Performer of the Year Award and the Popularity Award of TV Part (The Bak Sang Arts Grand Award), which was definitely a big honour for a relatively new entertainer!
A Big Wave Hits The WorldAs his career went on from strength to strength, Rain stuck to his clean roots and continued to win over the hearts of many. He was named Honorary Goodwill Ambassador for the city of LA, Goodwill Ambassador for Community Chest in Korea, Cyber Goodwill Ambassador, Honorary Goodwill Ambassador for the British Tourism Promotion Agency as well as the Goodwill Ambassador for Teenagers’ Book Reading Campaign in 2004 alone!
Rain’s third album It’s Raining recorded over a million copies sold in several Asian countries, including more than half a million copies in China and over 100,000 copies in Japan! In addition, Rain’s Asian tour Rainy Day was considered a whopping success by leaps and bounds, with tickets sold out on the first day they became available for the public to purchase! For the new superstar whose hobbies include collecting shoes and clothes, his warm personality and boyish charm are his main assets aside from his performing skills that have set him sweeping the region like a big, bold wave!
Raining HeavyRain further secured his reputation as a high-achiever by winning the MTV Asia Grand Slam in 2004. In 2005 he was named Favourite Korean Artist at the 2005 MTV Asia Aid that was held in Bangkok. He also bagged the Most Popular Asian Artist Award from Channel [V] Thailand, the Best Buzz Asia Award at the MTV Japan Video Music Awards where he performed on the same stage as world-famous musicians like Ashanti and Hoobastank. Besides being named the Best Korean Singer at the MTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Honours in Beijing, Rain was unsurprisingly the first Asian performing artist invited to the 2005 American MTV Video Music Awards in Miami and the 2005 MTV Latin Video Music Awards held in Mexico. The attention Rain was getting at one time surpassed even the highest expectations that he was invited for an interview with CNN Talk Asia.
In that same year, he starred in the TV series A Love To Kill, where he portrays a man who works as a bodyguard for a famous actress while simultaneously taking revenge on her for putting his brother into a vegetative state. This role won him the Best Star Award and it was only a matter of time before big companies came knocking on his door, asking him to become the face of their brands.
Reigning OnIn April last year, Time Magazine named Rain the world’s second most influential entertainer, in a list that includes supermodel Tyra Banks and actor George Clooney. He also performed at sold-out concerts held at the Madison Square Garden in New York and Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas at the end of the year. At the same time, he has also been working on an English album due to be released in the United States. Rain also made his debut in the film industry with his first film, I’m A Cyborg, But It’s Okay – a story about two of the main characters from a mental hospital who fall in love. On the commercial side, Rain has been making millions from his endorsement of global brands such as Pepsi, Ralph Lauren and BMW, to name a few.
Rain’s World, his highly-anticipated fourth album, was released last October with the first single I’m Coming followed by the second hit, In My Bed. In honour of all the work he’s done, MTV named him Artist of the Month for January 2007. For a dancer who’s created a whole new style of his own by integrating diverse genres over his long-lasting dancing career, Rain has broken the boundaries of cool edge. And his continuous passion for excellence drives him to pursue all the challenges and hard work that goes into the making of something big. For someone who believes in the saying “
Opportunity visits those who make great effort”, Rain’s meteoric rise to fame has certainly got a story to tell.
For more information about his ongoing tour, log on to www.rainworldtour.com. To get a piece of Rain’s World, available at your nearest record store now!
Credits: Faces.com.my || Rain-malaysia.com
