Cloud USA

— Written jointly by: Terri :-} and Stephe ^@@^, Managing Editors

{*Edited to Add 9/5/2011 by Stephe: Well. I think the resounding silence says it all. And sometimes silence is the BEST policy in the celebrity world. Just because you speak doesn’t mean people won’t take what you said and run with it in a whole other direction that makes things even worse. An unfortunate truth when it comes to humans.

The fact that neither Rain nor Saadiq themselves (nor the supposed “accuser”) have added anything to this matter, and the fact that Rain mentioned in his Busan Section TV interview that “Busan Woman” could be classified as soul music, says to me that things have possibly been taken care of OR possibly were taken care of between these two parties from the start. A newspaper with a notorious reputation for living just to stick it to Rain was who stirred the pot to begin with, and that right there gives the “controversy” even LESS credibility.

We were right to let this crap die.

Up and until Saadiq makes any kind of statement (IF he does so at all), I’m not blaming Rain for a darned thing.

If Saadiq never says a word, then Rain has been treated terribly yet AGAIN. ^@@^}

—

ORIGINAL POST

Yes, sir.  It looks like that pretty little Busan woman has been mighty busy these days.

Or has she?

According to Korean news outlets all over the Internet, Rain is being accused by someone somewhere (by whom, we aren’t quite sure, but we’re waiting with bated breath to find out) of composing his new song, “Busan Woman,” by borrowing heavily from Raphael Saadiq’s song, “Detroit Girl.”

For those of you who don’t know, Raphael Saadiq is an extremely talented American singer, songwriter and producer who has been working in the music industry here in The States since 1984, when he played bass for Sheila E’s band (look it up).  He is a Grammy award winning producer and has worked with artists like Stevie Wonder, Earth, Wind & Fire, Prince, Mary J. Blige, John Legend, Whitney Houston, Erykah Badu, and…well, you get our drift.

According to one of Rain’s associates, the accusations are ridiculous and unfounded.  However, the only differences the representative could conjure up between the two songs were the tempo and the fact that the two songs were of the same genre.

There is some validity to the argument that music of the same genre follows similar patterns.  In fact, all music contains patterns, and algorithms have been used to compose music for centuries.  Still, completely ignored in Rain’s defense were the obvious similarities between the two songs, such as the introductory hook, bridges and chord progressions.

You think we’re kidding?  Okay, listen for yourself.  Here’s Rain’s Busan Woman.

(Courtesy of Rainsaraghaebi625 on YouTube)

Now, here’s Raphael’s Detroit Woman…

(Courtesy of soulcaz on YouTube)

All we have to say after listening to these two songs together is this:  Rain definitely has some ‘splaining to do.

Are the similarities enough for Busan Woman to be considered plagiarism?  We don’t have a clue.  We are not experts in musical plagiarism, nor do we pretend to be.  So, it will be people much wiser than us who will determine whether or not Rain and/or his co-composer plagiarized “Detroit Girl.”  If the law determines that they are guilty of plagiarism, then Rain and his co-composer will suffer the consequences—as well they should.

Rain is so talented and so very resourceful that we cannot believe that he would ever purposefully resort to plagiarizing another musician’s work.  Still, with the plagiarism virus running rampant in the K-Pop industry for years now, with songwriters copying other artists’ work left and right (I.e., Hyori’s H-Logic), it boggles our mind that Rain would leave his ass so uncovered that he would end up collaborating with yet again another potential copycat songwriter?  What the hell?

We would think, with all the charges that have been leveled at K-Pop songwriters over the past several years, that artists would be more skittish about where their songwriters are getting material from and go over that material with a fine tooth comb. Why doesn’t this seem to be more of a concern? And who is this particular songwriter who thought he/she could possibly get one over on someone at the level of Raphael Saadiq? Seriously?

Does it sound like we’re pissed off? We are. This is the last thing Rain needs at this juncture—a smudge across his career and a bad taste left in his fans’ mouths just as he departs for the military for two years. We’re furious. BUT: Everyone makes mistakes. That’s what being human is all about, and as long as we learn from those mistakes and don’t repeat them, then the experience wasn’t for naught.

No, we’re not kicking Rain to the curb for a lapse in judgment (how silly would that be?). But we do want him to take some serious learning away from this lesson about watching his people, covering his butt, and not letting this happen again. He has lived his career cleanly and with good character, which is why we’ll continue to stand with him. Character goes a long way, in our book.

When there is a proper statement from RAIN (and not only a representative) or something other than speculation and rehash by the Media concerning this matter, we’ll be sure to bring that to you.

In the meantime, let’s continue to show him lots of love and support, because he deserves it.

Thanks, Clouds and Rain fans.

— Terri :-} and Stephe ^@@^ , Co-Founders

www.cloudusa.org 

Posted in Bi Rain, Bi Rain News, Cloud USA, Jung Ji Hoon, Korean pop, Rain Topics
Tags: Bi Rain articles, Bi Rain controversy, Bi Rain News, Cloud USA original article, Jung Ji Hoon, Korean pop, rain bi