Looking Back on Seven Years of Rain

From 2002 to 2009... "Bad Guy" to "Bad Boy"

Rewind time back to 2002. Korea was co-hosting the FIFA World Cup with Japan and finished fourth in the competition... wait... go back another few months. It's May and a little record called "Bad Guy" was the debut track for (to quote one newspaper) 'rising comet Bi'.

Mr Jeong Ji Hoon had been under the wing of one of the pillars of the Korean Music industry JYP for two years. This was after being rejected by several companies because of his looks and needs-a-bit-of-practice-to-make-use-of-his-talent status. Not to mention the apparent car-wreck that was his earlier efforts in a group called "Fan Club".

But no, under the watchful eye of JYP, Rain swept through Korea winning every major newcomer award in his first year. He followed this up with forays into acting, building up experience with "Sangdoo, Let's Go to School" and other (failed) projects. It was after his next two albums "How to Avoid the Sun" and "It’s Raining" became hits that he began building a reputation abroad, especially when he appeared in "Full House" with natural beauty Song Hye Kyo in 2004.

It came as a shock for all of us when in 2007, Rain broke off from JYP and began his own rival company Rainy Entertainment (later renamed J. Tune Entertainment). Maybe we should have seen it coming; he always insisted that he be credited as Jeong Ji Hoon in his acting projects as opposed to the name that made him famous with JYPE… perhaps he had always harboured hopes on becoming independent from the beginning.

Having added most Asian countries to his conquests, he's now got his sheelnoon (thread eyes) set on the West. I’d probably classify him as part of the third generation of stars attempting to win over America ("Pre-90s" followed by "GOD, HOT, SES" then "Se7en, BoA, Rain"). But without the backing of any of the three huge names in K-Pop it will be difficult for him to make it the US but by God, he's giving it his best shot.

So he's been voted in the Time 100 and hit number one on the internet polls, he's been on The Colbert Report and he's performed in Vegas. Yet he's still unknown in almost all Caucasian american households, he's yet to make an impact musically and probably most embarassingly lost his own name as Mr Preciptation.

So what about the future? I'll be honest, I'm a genuine fan of the man for what he has achieved despite all the troubles in his early life but he stands only a small chance of success. K-Pop is still niche and it will take more than just one man (or woman) to shift opinion... even if Perez Hilton bigs up 2NE1 and Super Junior.

Despite all that, Ji Hoon hyung-nim has nothing to lose in the US. Whatever he does now he will establish his name with at least the industry insiders. Rain will have links here and there with producers and artists which will be important if he decides to pursue success for J. Tune Entertainment more than as "The Rain".

In fact, with his production and acting ambitions, he could be a significant force in Korea for helping acts cross the Pacific. He might not become the “World Star” that Korea has crowned him but he, like others before him, will set the precedent and lay the foundations for K-Pop to truly become part of mainstream Western entertainment. I wish him all the very best, especially with his first major role in Ninja Assassin in November.

Source: Seoulbeats