Back towards the end of February, the » Seoul Music Institute (home page HERE) made the news when » some of their students were chosen to sing back-up on Back To The Basic. Enjoy this brief but wonderful video of their experience. (The school is so proud of their kids, they’ve actually put the audio of Rain’s “Love Song” on their home page. Wow…!)
I think the smiles on the students’ faces and the tone in their voices say it all. SMI… fighting! 🙂
— Stephe ^@@^
(courtesy of rakota5 @RainHK)
Hello lovely Clouds!
Well, it took me awhile, but this morning I was finally able to sit down and give Rain’s Back to the Basic album a good long listen. I took my time, because I wanted to make sure that the feedback I provided came not only from my heart, but also from my head. In other words, I wanted to be able to speak with some intelligence about his work and not sound like a “fan girl,” which is exactly what I would have sounded like if I had said anything at all yesterday.
First of all, let me say that since I’m a relatively new fan of Rain’s, I had no clue where he was going with with this album. Yes, I’ve listened to as much of his older work as I could find. And I have honestly enjoyed all of it. Still, after all of the different Back to the Basic teasers and photos were released (with Rain in long hair, with fake eyelashes, in glitter, and clean-cut) I didn’t know what to think. I just didn’t.
Which I’m predicting is exactly what Rain was going for. That’s right. It’s my take that he didn’t want people to get it. Why? Well, you see, if you drive people crazy with the hype, then they get all flustered and confused, which causes them to abandon all of their expectations. Then when they finally do get to hear the actual music, they are more likely to be transported “back” to that “basic” place in song we writers call story—where love is painful, where nice guys don’t always get the girl, and where dancing can be a hell of a lot of fun.
So, what’s my take on his music? Let’s take it track by track.
Love Song (the Korean version), music and lyrics by Rain.
Love Song is a bittersweet ballad that rips our hearts out as 1) we watch the girl he desperately loves leave him forever and 2) we are treated to some of the sexiest choreography I’ve seen in a long, long time (on multiple continents).
As far as #1 goes, why the heck any girl would leave Rain is certainly a mystery to me. But hey, I believed it. Didn’t you?
With regard to #2, those of you who keep comparing his dancing in the music video negatively to a “Chippendale’s” show have obviously never actually experienced a Chippendale’s show, or you would never ever believe that to be a negative. Trust me on this one.
You don’t know how many times I’ve wished our American musicians would break out in some kind of smexy dance number as opposed to glaring morosely at the screen while flexing their underdeveloped biceps. It’s absolutely refreshing that the musicians coming out of Korea aren’t afraid to strut their stuff on stage and give us what we want—performers who can sing and move their butts. Nicely done, Rain!
Hip Song, music by Rain and Bae Jin Ryul (Jr. Groove), lyrics by Rain.
Hip Song truly is hip, with a mix of Hip Hop and Old School that really swings. I can actually see this being a big hit in “da club.” I’m especially eager to seeing the choreography Rain puts to this song. I’ll bet it’s smokin’ hot. If you want to see where I think he was going with this song, just do a search for “Nelly and Fergie—Party People” on YouTube. “Where my party people at?!” Heh, heh. :-}
One, music by Kim Tae Wan (C-luv) and Jang Young Chan (YC), lyrics by Kim Tae Wan.
In One, Rain delivers up some sweet R&B style vocals and totally convinces his listeners that each one of them is his one and only girl. Super sexy, sweet and totally believable. Really. I did think that the song ended a little abruptly though. It was only three minutes long, so there was room for another repeat of the chorus and some Rain improv there at the end. I’m not sure why he chose to just end the song where he did. But I still liked it anyway. So there.
Same, music and lyrics by Kim Tae Wan.
Although I can’t quite figure out the lyrics from the direct translations, the gist of Same seems to be Rain wanting a girl who wants some other guy and not him. And he’s trying to tell he that he wants her, but she’s not listening. Okay, someone please smack this woman upside her head.
This was another cool and easy song that highlighted Rain’s sultry vocals exceptionally well. The “hey, hey” of the backtrack and the “break” were both terrific additions to the sound. Again, this song also ended a little too abruptly for my taste.
Which brings us to:
Love Song (the English version), music and lyrics by Rain.
Okay. Everybody out there knows how much I love Rain, right? Which is why it pains me so greatly to have to say this. The English version of Love Song is not good.
First of all, let it be known that you should never directly translate anything from one language into another, if you want to be understood properly. In particular, direct translation should never be done with music. As a consequence of what I believe to be the direct translation of Love Song from Korean into English, some of the word choices in this song are seriously strange and unromantic.
An example. If one of my ex-lovers was “prowling” around my house while I was away, I’d be getting a restraining order against him, okay? “Roaming” around is fine. “Prowling” around is what stalkers do.
And despite the fact that someone somewhere should have taught Rain how to pronounce the word, “intolerable” is a word that should never be used in a romantic song. Ever. “It feels horrible” would have worked. “It feels terrible” would have worked. Intolerable did not work.
Yes, it’s obvious he was directly translating this song. But why? Who the heck advised him to do that? He has produced other songs in English before. Double Dragon Productions did a terrific job with the English versions of Love Story and Rainism. So good in fact, that I can’t for the life of me figure out why Rain didn’t ask them to create an English version of Love Song for him. It simply blows my mind. Ah well.
That being said, let me add that the emotion in Rain’s voice actually seemed stronger to me in the English version of Love Song, than in the Korean version. I’ve heard others say the opposite, so maybe it was simply because this version was in my own language? And of course, the music and the dancing was spectacular in both versions.
The bottom line? Overall, I found Back to the Basic to be an entertaining mini-album that I’m sure will delight Rain fans all over the world. It certainly delighted me, and I can’t wait to get my pre-ordered copy. Then all I have to do is stay calm until he completes his next projects.
In the meantime, I do hope Rain gets to take a well-deserved break, don’t you? After all, he has been working really hard. It would be nice if he was able to sit back, relax, and bask in the glow of a job well done for awhile, before being called to his next adventure.
Wishing you all many Rainy days,
Terri :-}
How do we know that?
We know it because within days of the Love Song MV release, Rain fans on every continent on the PLANET had managed to translate and hard-subtitle the song in their own languages for their fellow fans. Everyone wanted the opportunity to immerse themselves in Rain’s heartfelt words of love and despair. Check this out… we can only imagine how many more there are that we haven’t found.
(Love Song, ARABIC subs. Courtesy of TearsOfLife4Subs.)
» Love Song, Chinese and Korean subs.
And, because I really don’t blame you for wanting it in your collection…
» Love Song, English subs + Romanization + Hangeul.
Ahhhhh. Don’t you just feel the love? — Stephe ^@@^
And because of that, back when we wrote » this post about Japan’s “final” LoR concert, and when we » speculated about mention of a 2010 summer Asia tour, we never were quite satisfied that we had the whole story.
Apparently we didn’t have the whole story, because now this notice is up on not only the official Legend of Rainism site, but also on official RAIN (rain-jihoon.com/n2). “There will be the final show of Legend of Rainism in Japan, followed by Saitama and Osaka.” [*Note: this notice is dated the same day as the previous notice that did not mention Saitama and Osaka.] Obviously Yoyogi Stadium/Tokyo begins the final LEG, but is not the final SHOW, of the LoR tour. Which is fine with us—we just tend to get a little prickly when we can’t give Rain fans the proper information.
Equally as strange when it comes to upcoming Saitama and Osaka is how we haven’t seen any of the news sources mention the shows at all. Did we miss something? Have any of you seen these two shows reported? If you could shed some light on this, we’d really appreciate it.
Wow. “Erotic bed scene” in the US and in Korea mean two totally different things as well. But that’s a whole other post. 🙂
— Stephe ^@@^
(cap credit: Rakota / source: rain cloud / tip: sixtofive1982.com)
That’s what Asian source Now News is thinking. They have reported that as of today: “Hip Song” is #1, “Love Song” (original version) is second, “One” is third, and “Same” is sixth on the Monkey3 charts. The songs have even entered the top 10 on the Cyworld charts.
(article source: Now News / original translation: rain bird @rain-eu.)
Is anyone surprised that the amazing Hip Song is taking over? We aren’t.
°
Here is an extensive version of the Back To The Basic track list, as reported on K Bites, so that you are informed as to who wrote/composed what. Notice: that winning Rainism team, our Ji-Hoon and Tae-Wan (C-Luv), have been at it again. No wonder B2TB is smokin’.
» You can see the K Bites blog post by Sookyeong HERE.
Track list:
1. 널 붙잡을 노래 (Love Song) – Composed By: Jung Ji Hoon (Rain), Groove Network, Lyrics By: Jung Ji Hoon (Rain)
2. Hip Song – Composed By: Jung Ji Hoon (Rain), Bae Jin Ryul (JR GROOVE), Lyrics By: Jung Ji Hoon (Rain)
3. One – Composed By: Kim Tae Wan (C-luv) [For Groove Network], Jang Young Chan (YC), Lyrics By: Kim Tae Wan (C-luv) [For Groove Network]
4. 똑 같아 (Same) – Composed By: Kim Tae Wan (C-luv) [For Groove Network], Lyrics By: Kim Tae Wan (C-luv) [For Groove Network]
5. Love Song (English Ver.)
— Stephe ^@@^
I’ll bet you could walk barefooted across hot coals while looking at these pictures, and NOT feel a thing. — ^@@^
(credit: rakota of RainHK @RainLegend)
[ *ETA: Brilliantly done. In fact, if not for the strong rock and classical components that come into the later portion of Love Song (and remind you of Guns N’ Roses’ November Rain), I would say this entire mini-album is straight R&B without a trace of Kpop. Listen to the percussion and the incidentals. It’s like Rain is calling the Hip Hop world out with a “Heyyyyy! Check it!” 🙂 ]
…with utter joy, having just listened to the Love Song English version (everything is finally released!). And now it’s time to experience Hip Song as well. We have been dying to hear it, not to mention waiting with baited breath to see Rain’s Hip Song choreography. When our B2TB album arrives in the mail, we’re having a party.
» See allkpop’s post Rain Releases Back To The Basic HERE and enjoy ALL FIVE tracts of the special mini-album. — Stephe ^@@^ 12:17 pm EST
Track list:
1. Love Song
2. Hip Song
3. One
4. 똑같아 / Same
5. Love Song (English Version)
(source: allkpop, courtesy of kaboomzaYO. Bear in mind that though this is an English version, it is an English version designed for Asia, which to me is why the translation is straight Korean-to-English, rather than Americanized. Exp: “I no longer have your breath here with me” vs. “Your essence [or presence] has faded from around me.” Frankly, I’m surprised he did that… and I’m not quite sure what to think.)
The Korea Times 4/6/2010 — Rain is back. He’s “Back to the Basic.”
“Hello, everyone. Rain is back with a ballad,” the 27-year-old told a roomful of reporters and photographers in Yeouido, Seoul, Monday. He has returned as a singer, after spending months traveling around the world promoting his Hollywood action flick, “Ninja Assassin,” and it was evident he was ready to further wow fans with yet another hot track.
“I needed to go back to where I started from. People have asked me why I wanted to release an album in Korea when I could continue acting in the United States. The reason is I could not forget my roots: my Korean fans. It was my duty and so that’s why I chose the title “Back to the Basic,”’ he said.
» Han Sang-Hee’s entire extensive article Rain Returns With Back To The Basic, on The Korea Times, is HERE. Read the specifics and Rain’s own views concerning the album, growing as a man, and big dreams.
“A singer has to evolve with transition; that’s what we should strive to do…”
“I wanted to make tasteful music, not so fancy and decorated. The songs are all based on my experience.”
“I’ll be wearing some accessories like bracelets, vests, hats and fake eyelashes. I was serious when I said I wanted a change!” he said, laughing.
“You can’t just release an album and make a big fuss over it. I would love to start immediately, considering my age, but I must follow the American way,” he said calmly.
“There will be failures but there will also be success. I’m dreaming big.”
Like we said… he knew exactly what he was doing. 🙂 A great write-up.
— Stephe ^@@^
Osen 4/6/2010 — All of the sound sources in Rain’s special album will be opened to the public at midnight on 6 April 2010. In particular, since his second single ‘Hip Song’ which is a dance song will be unveiled this time, people who have been waiting for his dance song again are having greater expectations of him than ever. (source: news.naver(dot)com. Thanks to rain bird and Rain Europe for this information.)
We’re a little confused… Presently, it is April 6, 10:45 am EST here in Atlanta, which means that it is 11:45 pm on the same day in Seoul. Does this mean Rain’s album will be released overseas in roughly 15 minutes and they really meant April 7 at midnight? Or was it already released almost a day ago on April 6 at midnight? (We’re betting April 7 at midnight… after all, that’s what we’ve been steadily hearing for the past seven days.)
Stay tuned. — Stephe ^@@^
[ *ETA: Reports are Music Bank will remain canceled this week, with the next scheduled recording of it falling on April 16th. » The allkpop article concerning this latest news is HERE. ]
…as posted on his official Website. The schedule is subject to change due to the TV broadcasters. Last update: 4/11/10.
√ Monday April 05 (UTC/coordinated universal time)
Rain’s special album press conference
√ Tuesday April 06 (UTC)
Commercial spot (CF) shooting
√ Wednesday April 07 (UTC)
MBC Radio Star recording
√ Thursday April 08 (UTC)
6 PM ~ M.Countdown show
Friday April 09 (UTC)
6:30 PM ~ KBS Music Bank show (CANCELED)
√ Saturday April 10 (UTC)
Commercial spot (CF) shooting
4:10 PM ~ MBC Show! Music Core broadcast
6 PM ~ Happy Together show recording
√ Sunday April 11 (UTC)
6:10 PM ~ SBS Inkigayo
(From Rain’s personal Notice page. Loose translation: Stephe. Source: rain-jihoon.com/n2 [Korean version])
Last Monday, KBS show YeoYuManMan presented a clip to their studio audience that talked about Rain’s recent activities (receiving three Green Planet Movie Awards, the Love Song teaser and his new album in general, and his wrestling adventure in the streets of Seoul). I don’t feel we need any English subs or translations, the clip pretty much speaks for itself, but if any come about, we’ll be sure to bring those to you. Enjoy. ^@@^
(credit: edited by Scorpiola / presented by scorpiolabibi1. PLEASE do not upload this video to other YouTube channels, per the original uploader.)
At his official press conference, which was held at Viking Buffet restaurant in KT Building in Seoul’s Yoido on the afternoon of April 5th, in celebration of the release of his special album, Rain was quoted as saying:
“I was [about to burst with the news] because I was eager to show my song ‘Neol Bootjabul Norae’ (The Song To Make You Want To Stay) to the public… I [chose a] ballad song, to the surprise of everyone, [because] I felt I needed a change… After that, I felt I could add a little more performance to the song. This project has been planned with painstaking attention to detail. It is two years since I began thinking about the song, and I was [about to burst with the news] because this song was already made at that time when I was active with Rainism.”
And, “The principal reason I’ve chosen such a ballad song instead of a dance song as the title track is because I wanted to make a song which appeals to the public’s tastes more.”
(news credit: My Daily, Newsen / original translation: rain bird @rain-eu. / image credit as tagged)
» You can read a little more about the press conference and what Rain revealed HERE, at ELOSOUL Online. — Stephe ^@@^
» You can read the KoreanUpdates.com blog post, sourced from Asiae news, HERE.
See what we mean? » Like we said in our previous post, unless you see “J.Tune has announced” and a direct quote printed from either them or Rain, you just never know. Things quoted by the major news sources as “being considered” and “in discussion” from “industry officials” or unknown “agency reps” may be real, or hopeful speculation on their part. For all we know, THIS could be the story that’s wrong…
When it comes to Rain news, we take everything with a grain of salt. (A “fugitive” role for Rain would be sweet though, wouldn’t it? We still stand by that opinion.)
— Stephe ^@@^
Well, we have to have something while we eagerly wait for those “Love Song” and “Hip Song” performances we’ve been promised, right?
Try this on for size, Clouds. Clips from A Love To Kill, a very early Cosmo photo shoot and various others, a white “Nan” performance, and the only time we in the States have seen Rain on a runway (he was just a baby!)… and other goodies, all wrapped up in a neat, gorgeous package. Fan made and VERY nicely done. — ^@@^
(courtesy of jinzhier)
Asian source SPN News has reported that Rain contributed his headset mic to one of his charity collections this year, and that it will be auctioned off.
The 5th Auction Charity Campaign (in connection with Lotte DF) is an annual event that Rain and many other celebrities have regularly participated in for several years, and will be held over the coming month (four weeks). Proceeds will go towards missing children and their families.
(Thanks to rain bird @rain-eu. for this information.)
°
Another auction that collects the personal belongings of Korean celebrities is the annual Yahoo!Japan hallyu charity event, that has been going on throughout March and looks to continue through the month of May. And as you can see from our screen shots from » the official Yahoo!Japan auction site (converted from Japanese through Google Translate), Rain’s leather jacket (his favorite?) is up for sale.
All proceeds will be donated to Japan’s Red Feather Community Chest.
— Stephe ^@@^
Dramabeans 4/4/2010 — Rain (aka Jung Ji-hoon) has been teasing us for months about a possible drama comeback, and now it has been announced that he’s currently in talks regarding Chuno writer Chun Sung-il’s next project. On April 5, a senior rep from Rain’s management company revealed that the star is considering several scripts, among them writer Chun’s Runaway [도망자, a working title]…. (properly sourced from E Daily and Mk.co.kr)
We have also heard this supposed project referred to as “The Fugitive” (same difference?). Of course, that conjures up a boatload of images of the » popular 1993 American movie of the same name, with Tommy Lee Jones and Harrison Ford, which came from » the 1963 TV series starring David Janssen. And that makes us very, very excited. Rain would absolutely hit a home run in a role like this.
But we have to remember—at this point, nothing is concrete. When things are “being considered” and “in discussion”, we can only speculate until word comes from the man himself. It doesn’t hurt to hope, though.
» Read the entire post Rain Considers Role in Chuno Writer’s Next Drama on the Dramabeans blog HERE.
— Stephe ^@@^
Rain’s 2004 hit song, “It’s Raining”, has been given the #2 spot on SHOUTcast.com’s Top 10 Kpop Songs of All Time list. In his 4/3/2010 article, Jeremy Krinsley writes, “Rain has the distinction of being one of the Korean artists credited with building further hip hop and R&B influences into the KPOP universe in the tradition of Seo Taiji, perhaps most notably by inserting his moniker into the title of half his albums. So ‘It’s Raining’ is a shoe-in as Rain’s best KPOP song, and one of the top KPOP songs ever.”
We agree with Krinsley. And amazingly, Rain is STILL doing that very thing today, continuing to build hip hop and R&B influences, as his most recent release proves. Not only is the foundation of his beautiful ballad “Love Song” a distinctive four-beat R&B rhythm, but in parts of the “Love Song” video Rain’s attire screams hip hop (something we haven’t seen since the 2005 RAINY DAY and 2007 RAIN’S COMING world tours, and Pantech’s ANY DREAM and “Shou Ji”) gone glitter/glam. All that, and he managed to throw some rock-and-roll music and clothing into the Back To The Basic pot as well. Talk about creative.
» See SHOUTcast Radio Blog’s Top 10 Kpop songs of all time HERE. It’s quite an interesting group, actually, that includes Big Bang, Jewelry, TVXQ, Wonder Girls, and Seo Taiji, to name a few.
— Stephe ^@@^
[ *ETA: The actual 20sec Classic & Pop: Shall We Lotte? CF has been added to our Commercial Spots page. ]
The making of Rain’s and renowned cellist Song Young-Hoon’s new Lotte commercial spot, for the “Shall we Lotte?” campaign. Cute. The use of a remake of “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” (the Queen song version is my favorite) does fit the bill—we like. Enjoy.
— Stephe ^@@^
(courtesy of rakota8)
According to this released advertisement on Korean Top News, Rain is scheduled to perform at this annual event at » Seoul World Cup Stadium, along with many other major stars. (I do believe that is Hyun-Joong of ss501 on the poster.) Dream Concert, indeed. — Stephe ^@@^ 4:50 am EST
English Translation:
Korean “DREAM CONCERT 2010″ guest list and schedule
Date: 5/22 (Thur)
Place: Seoul World Cup Stadium
Artist Guest list:
Rain、Bigbang、2NE1、2AM、2PM、Lee Hyori、SS501、After School、
KARA、T- ara、SNSD、SHINee、CNBLUE……etc.
(Source: K-enter.tv 妃茵@TWTS + ss501foreverfans.webs.com + (eng trans) SS501fighting.wordpress.com
Credit: gellie @ DailyKpopNews)
» RAIN Makes It Onto the List of Candidates for TIME Top 100 Most Influential People… AGAIN. KBS Global, released 4/2/2010.
A nice, though brief, write-up. Makes for good reading.
» Rain’s Love Song Music MV. K-Popped! Released 4/2/2010.
*Rrrrip* “I’m mad! Get me out of this shirt!” 🙂 I agree that our Rain should get worked up like this more often… — ^@@^
Dear Cloud USA Email subscribers:
Recently you would have gotten notice of a new post here entitled “Love Song MV with English subs.” That post no longer exists. I have deleted it, and I wanted to explain why.
Last week, after the Love Song full audio version was released, fans quickly English-subbed it and posted those videos which I, for one, really appreciated. We all were burning to know exactly what Rain was singing in The Song To Make You Want To Stay (Neol Bootjabul Norae)! Well, before a full day was out, I read a quiet bit of controversy about how J.Tune possibly considered those versions copyright infringement (maybe because Rain’s Love Song English track had yet to be released?), and some sites were taking theirs down.
Now this week, with the full music video having been released, suddenly English-subbed versions of it are popping up all over. Truly, I want nothing more than to provide one here, but that makes me uncomfortable because I don’t see the difference between this week and last week. Concerning my recently deleted post “Love Song MV with English subs”, I mistakenly thought the vid had come subbed from J.Tune (their logo is on it, along with GomTV’s) but that wasn’t the case; it is fan-subbed (and well done, I might add). Perhaps I’m being too stringent on the subject, but you know the old saying—better safe than sorry.
Besides, with tract#5 on the new album entitled Love Song (English ver.), doesn’t that mean we’re getting the translation anyway from Rain himself? I don’t have a problem waiting for that.
Thanks for your patience and understanding. Rain fans united…!
— Stephe ^@@^
[ *ETA: Terri found a really good written English translation, so I am putting it over in our Lyrics Index. ]
[ *ETA: Very brief English translation has been provided by rain bird of rain-eu. We thank her! ]
Asia broadcast 4/3. The continuation of last week’s fun fan meeting, and believe it or not, it gets even more fun. Things continue to go awry, and you know how it is when Rain gets really tickled—it’s darn near impossible for him to stop laughing. His dance crew is no help—if anything, they make the problem worse. A possible subtitle for this episode could be “Rain Comes Undone.” Haha. 🙂 — Stephe ^@@^
(Japanese subtitles only; stay tuned for English subs. Courtesy of ratoka.)
2:10
Thanks to the concern all of you have shown… Such opportunities, as I was selected as the representative of Korea in many fields, and as I was interviewed with the leading media including CNN, etc., seem to come to me.
0:20~48
While waiting around at airports, I usually listen to music or read magazines or enjoy looking around. By the way, I feel angry and I’d like to rip those pictures and throw them away, when there are Lotte DFS pictures that don’t show me around airports… but otherwise, I feel so good and am in good condition. (The audience burst into a laugh at his joke)
[ *Yeah, I would be disturbed too if the media made it look like I just magically appeared everywhere without any effort at all, as if I had it easy… Stephe ^@@^ ]
1:56
I hope you are always healthy and happy, and that you will love my Ninja Assassin and MBLAQ a lot. I plan to hold my concert in Japan as quickly as possible.
That’s what they’re saying, fans.
Allkpop 4/3/2010—…Seoulful seems to be the first of a series of concerts to come that will feature A-list artists from both Korea and America. “We actually have plans for American artists such such as Akon, Sean Paul, Flo Rida [and] Trey Songz,” Kwon said. “We have one coming up for Kim Jong Gook, Mighty Mouth and Ne-Yo and also we have one coming up later in the year for Usher and Rain.”
We don’t know how definite these plans truly are, but wow… Rain and Usher? With KJK and Flo Rida on the side? We would clear our entire calendar for a chance to see THAT. Wouldn’t you?
— Stephe ^@@^
[ *ETA: We’ve all been gushing about the spectacular Love Song MV visuals, but honestly… the song itself and the underlying music are what truly stun our senses. Sheer brilliance. ]
RAIN ON TOP. Asian news source Osen has reported that Rain’s Back To The Basic title track “The Song To Make You Want To Stay” (널 붙잡을 노래, romanized: Neol Bootjabul Norae) is on top of all the music charts—Melon, Mnet, Dosirack, Cyworld, Hanteo and others—three days after release. The newly released music video is also a hit.
Is anyone surprised by that? Not at all. Personally, I cannot wait to dance around the room to the “Hip Song.”
°
HE’S ALWAYS DATED WITH MARRIAGE IN MIND. Asian source Daily Sports has reported that, during the April 1st pre-recording for the upcoming KBS talk show “Seung Seung Jan Goo” (or Win Win, On the Up and Up, or Keep On Rolling), Rain had quite a confession to make. “I’ve had four girlfriends so far. I always dated with marriage in mind. My first love was in high school; after that, I was formally introduced, before my debut, to a woman who was a model. After my debut, there were two more girlfriends—I was thrilled to work with a woman whom I had loved long before my debut.”
When asked what that woman’s name was, he cleverly said that he would answer that question if he appeared on the show a second time. ( 😀 Well, they’ll never see him again! Ha!)
Rain continued: “When my song ‘The Way To Avoid The Sun’ was out, a lot of female stars asked me out on dates by saying, Why don’t we have dinner together sometime? I didn’t realize what they meant [because they were so subtle]. Now that I think of it, they were pretty nervous and brave when they asked me out.”
When asked about his most thrilling date, he responded: “I vividly remember that the day we first met, I carried her on my back [piggy back ride, a gesture of great affection or getting someone out of harm’s way]. I had to have dates inside of cars, when what I really wanted was to walk holding her hand in front of everyone, without anyone recognizing us.”
Rain’s advice for guest Woo Young of 2PM? “Always remember that the woman you’re supposed to marry is right around you, close by.”
I personally have always heard that is true. While we’re peering and squinting into the distance, searching for that special someone, usually they’re right there, in your face.
—Stephe ^@@^
(article credit: Osen & Daily Sports. Thanks to rain bird @Rain-eu. for the original translations of these articles. The loose translation and commentary here are my own.)
“Black-Lit Rainism”, and “In flight Violet. “ By Cloud USA Forum and Facebook member Katie of the U.K.
Rain’s video message: “Why don’t we help the people of Haiti who suffered the earthquake as much as we possibly can? I’m going to be one of those who helps the victims in that country.” — ^@@^
(credit: rakota @YouTube / original translation: rain bird / source: Rain-eu.)
°
(Help for Haiti, courtesy of TheTommyUSA)
His 30sec White Therapy commercial spot for the skincare and cosmetics company, shot on Cheju Island several weeks ago. (Courtesy of rakota8.) Gorgeous. Amazing. —^@@^
[ *Edited to Add: Holy smokes—Rain’s eyes look INCREDIBLE lashed up in this video (but then I knew they would). The GlamRock/Glitter HipHop and Casual guitar Rock both look perfect on his body. What Kpop battle of the Comeback stars? Did you see the way he moved? Do you hear the way he sounds? The second this MV hit the Internet, the fight was OVER. ]
I’ve no idea why they divided the video up… but heavens bless J.Tune Creative for posting it on their Facebook page (and so quickly). Enjoy, Clouds. It is large, clear, and beautiful.
—Stephe ^@@^ 3:44 am EST
RAIN’s Special Album: Back To The Basic [mv in HQ]
> “Love Song” MV Full Version Part 1, HERE
°
Intact version, credit: GomTV, courtesy of scorpiolabibi.
And by way of rain bird @Rain-eu… here is translation of the beginning voice-over: “I wanted to make you want to stay, but I believed that you would surely come back.”
And the ending voice-over: “I’ll remember you forever. The song to make you want to stay.”
This song was composed and written by Rain.
The long-awaited music video (yes, the actual MV!) for Back To The Basic‘s title track is now showing on GomTV, Mnet, and other chosen sites, Clouds. Unfortunately, we cannot successfully view it ourselves at this time through the Asian portals that are in place (we have tried, and Terri did get one great viewing of the whole thing before access went awry). 😦
US Clouds are nothing if not patient, even in utter disappointment. It is a talent that serves us well during times like this. Terri (after coming back to her senses) assured me that my wait will be worth it, that Rain’s performance was sexy, magnificent, golden, exotic, erotic, and the story oh so poignant… so I’m thinking we should all do our best to prepare to be speechless. Here, in the meantime, are some amazing images from the music video itself. So now the infamous new mic stands are revealed…
As soon as I find a good source or URL for the MV, I will bring that to you and we will finally enjoy it.
(Big thanks to scorpiola, RainHK, and RainLegend for these pics and captures, so that we at least have something.) — Stephe ^@@^ 2:48 am EST
Word on the street is… J.Tune is going to be putting something else out there at 2 PM on April 2nd, Korea time (a half an hour from now, our time). Their press release is translated as stating:
“The Song To Make You Want To Stay (Neol Bootjabul Norae), the title track for [Rain’s] special album, will be prereleased as of 2pm today (April 2nd) on Gom TV.”
The full Love Song audio track has already been released, so it can’t be that… There is also mention, in the press release title, of an erotic bed scene that Rain has included in the music video, and so, with this “visual” reference, could it be that the thing to be released is the long-awaited Love Song music video itself? I suppose we’ll just have to see. It’s not like we have long to wait.
— Stephe ^@@^ 12:34 am EST
P.S.: We’re talking Korea here, so these sweet, loving pictures are probably about as “erotic” as anything is going to get. As you all remember, the censors banned references to the Magic Stick, even though it was a CANE. (Yes, it did a lot of “twirling inside” of things, and we’re certainly smart enough to paint our own metaphoric image in our minds, but whatever.) I’m just saying. Don’t get all excited—yet.
(image source: rain-cloud / ashes / rakota @memo-rain.ning.com)
… to reflect his more recent activities. And the change is welcome.
At first sight, quite frankly, it took our breath away. (WOW.) We haven’t had time to give the site a complete run-through, but what I have seen gives me tremendous pleasure, and the English option is wonderful. I imagine J.Tune will be expanding the site over time to include community locations and things of that nature, or to create more of a “mirrored” site between the Hangeul and English versions (where they totally reflect each other), but for the moment… this is a terrific start.
» Bookmark the new rain-jihoon(dot)com and check it out. Or simply click our updated link to Rain’s Official Website in our Blog sidebar.
— Stephe ^@@^
Cloud USA 
Back To The Basic: Your honest opinion.
•April 6, 2010 • 9 CommentsWe’ve all waited for so long, and finally it’s here: Rain’s special mini-album, BACK TO THE BASIC, several years in the making, its title track written and composed by him.
The past few weeks, with its strategic marketing releases and teasers, has been nothing but raw excitement on top of excitement for Clouds and Rain fans everywhere. We still have Rain’s visual performances to look forward to, but that excitement culminated with a BANG early yesterday morning in Asia (early this afternoon our time) with the album’s release.
So it’s six hours later, the initial frenzy has passed, and you’ve had a chance to drink everything in. What do you think of the album as a whole, and as individual songs? And how does that compare to how you felt about each teaser, the audio releases, and J.Tune’s marketing plan? Your constructive opinion is something that Rain himself needs to know—he pays attention to his fans’ reactions and always tries to learn from them. So here’s your shot. Talk to the man. Talk to us, and each other.
Good, bad, or indifferent, it’s discussion time. Just remember: The name of the game here is respect, for fellow commenters and for Rain. Be truthful… but no hater-ade, flame wars, or fan wrath. Thanks!
— Stephe ^@@^
(image source: Rain Vietnam)
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Posted in Bi Rain new album, Cloud USA, usa cloud
Tags: Bi Rain new album, Cloud commentary, Rain Back To The Basic, Rain fan commentary