Rain... Words about Him (featuring his songs' lyrics)

HIS BIOGRAPHY: The Reimagining of Bi Rain

Credit to CLOUD USA's article. Thanks fo reading! <3

“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.

PART I

“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.