Music Monday on Empty Streets: Featuring Bi (Rain)

I have gotten another request from a friend to feature her favorite Korean Pop Singer Idol "Rain" - Jeong Ji-hoon - 정지훈. Now before I had to start writing about him I had to get to know his music and style. I also took some time to do a little research about the Singer who is also a very talented actor. Based on what I have discovered he is apparently more than just a pretty face and has a very good line up of songs that are both catchy and danceable.



Here are some of the things that I have gotten to learn about Rain:

Rain's third album It's Raining sold over 1 million copies in Asia. According to a report by Rain's previous agency JYP Ent. to the Korea Culture & Content Agency, It's Raining topped the charts in all of the following countries as of December 29th, 2005: Japan (100,000 copies), China (500,000 copies), Taiwan (70,000 copies), Thailand (150,000 copies), Indonesia (50,000 copies), and South Korea (154,000 copies), for a combined total of 1,074,000 units sold, making it Rain's most successful album to date both domestically and internationally. Rain's first concert, Rainy Day, held in Korea and Japan, was sold out on the first day when the tickets became available.

In 2004, Rain earned greater recognition by winning the MTV Asia Grand Slam, securing top honors in all the Asian countries which broadcast MTV Asia. Rain won the Favorite Korean Artist at the 2005 MTV Asia Aid held in Bangkok, the Most Popular Asian Artist Award from Channel [V] Thailand, the Best Buzz Asia Award during the MTV Video Music Awards Japan 2005 (He won Best buzz ASIA as well as Orange Range and Stefanie Sun.) and the Best Korean Singer award in the MTV-CCTV Mandarin Music Honors in Beijing. Rain was also the first Asian performing artist ever to be invited to the 2005 American MTV Video Music Awards in Miami, as well as the 2005 MTV Latin Video Music Awards in Mexico. These accomplishments earned Rain a lot of media attention, including interviews with Time Asian Edition and CNN Talk Asia. Rain also won the Best Korean Singer Award 2005 at the Mandarin Music Honors in Taiwan.

Rain then went on his RAINY DAY 2005 Tour, starting in Seoul and followed by Tokyo and Hong Kong; due to his fame and his extravagant performances, tickets sold out quickly. His first solo concert in Japan last summer, entitled Rainy Day Japan held at the Tokyo International Forum, was so popular that all the tickets were sold out 30 seconds after going on sale. The tickets for another of his concerts in Taiwan were sold out the moment they became available also. His performances in Hong Kong also sold out in a couple of hours. Rain continues to set records in Asia. Now planning to go beyond Japan and Hong Kong, Rain will make a foray into China by giving a concert in Beijing.

In April 2006, he was mentioned in the Time magazine website article that named the "100 Most Influential People Who Shape Our World." In 2007, Rain topped Time Magazine's online user poll, although he was not in the magazine's actual list. He has an ongoing joke feud with Stephen Colbert for the top spot. He also made it into People's 2007 list of the "Most Beautiful People" in the world.

Another thing to mention is that his birthday is on the 25th of June 1982. :)

Here is one of his hottest dance tracks with English Subtitles for your enjoyment.

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