Rain (Bi) Interview w/ CNN

International celebrity Rain had an interview a couple days ago with CNN.

I haven’t had the chance to check it out yet but you can do so over at OMGKPOP.

Here’s their recap of the interview:

In the interview, Rain says that his mom passed away when he was 18 and she always wished him to study. But, due to Michael Jackson’s influence, Rain always wanted to dance. He said he regrets not giving her what she wanted.

The interview also includes the hard path to becoming a celebrity. He revealed that he got rejected from 12 auditions because of his looks. He then thanked JYP for making a lot of his dreams and goals a possibility.

When asked about winning the Times 2007 “Most Influential Person” award, he said he was surprised and that it opened up his gates towards Hollywood.

I just wonder when he’s going to try to make the move from movies back to music and debut here in the states. Sure we’ve given him a hard time before but in the end I do want him to succeed.

Source: OMGKPOP

The Korea Herald Op-Ed on Korean/US Crossovers

The Korea Herald had an interesting piece about the flock of KPOP singers attempting to break through the US market. It’s a great, short read and I’ll quote the entire article after the break just in case the page is ever removed.

Although nothing is really shocking about what’s written, it poses some good questions and summarizes the current pop culture climate and obstacles many of these singers are facing.

Continue reading

WTF: Minwoo x Psy x Bi x JunJin tribute to Michael Jackson

With today marking an unfortunate day in music history I thought it would be appropriate to offer one instance of KPOP’s dance tribute to Michael Jackson as this Week’s Thursday Freebie.

Bi (Rain), Minwoo & JunJin of Shinhwa, and rapper/comedian Psy all come together in this video clip from an awards ceremony from 7 yrs ago.

If you want to download a copy of the video itself you can find the link after the jump.

Continue reading

Discovery Channel documentary on Rain (Bi)

This isn’t new news but ChannelAPA recently posted a blog entry with the videos from the documentary done by Discovery Channel entitled “Hip Korea”. I haven’t had a chance to watch it myself but feel free to check it out. The clips supposedly offer some good insights and backstory behind the world-market focused Rain.

se7en (still) prepping for US debut

credit: Bump This

Based on recent videos released by YG Entertainment and Red Queen Media, KPOP singer Se7en looks to still be preparing for his US debut. Although his release date has been pushed back several times, it appears as if things are falling into place for the r&b singer albeit slowly. Whether or not he will be able to make an impact only time will tell but aTunes wishes him the best. Plus, dare I say, his english is markedly better then a certain other US aspiring KPOP star. *cough* Rain *cough*

videos after the jump.

Continue reading

Worst Ever: Bi (Rain) and English

Korean mega star Bi (Rain) was recently interviewed about his upcoming US film debut Ninja Assassin.

Only problem was his answers were completely incoherent and barely relevant at best.

I’m not going to hate on him for not being fluent in English, only for the fact that he didn’t utilize the translator standing RIGHT NEXT to him. On the plus side, his accent isnt so bad.

Source: Popseoul

Spotlight: iM (idea Maker)

OK, so fobby group name aside, I gotta admit I am fairly impressed with this group.  Although I have to admit I don’t know a whole lot about them. The group consists of 3 guys born in the early 80′s, Big Tone, PilKang, and LeeHan. They are a bit different from other KPOP/K-HipHop groups in that the major component to their music is the beatbox. Given I’ve only heard pre-recorded material that is typically heavily layered but nethertheless they do it with a lot of polish. I just wonder how good they would sound live, without the ability to layer their sounds.

Continue reading