SEOUL MAN

January 29, 2006 --
RAIN REIGNS AS ASIA'S HOT USHER

As a teenager, Korean pop sensation Ji-Hoon Jung lived with his mom and younger sister in a single run-down room in Seoul.

His mother was dying of diabetes because the family had no money to buy medication. The small amounts they did have came from his father, who worked in a bakery in a town three hours away.

"I hated myself. I couldn't do anything for my parents," says Jung through an interpreter. But "those times made me stronger, more determined."

With the help of a Korean hip-hop legend, Jung transformed himself into "Rain" - a rags-to-riches R&B heartthrob who has conquered Asia, and now aims to take on America.

The singer - who cites Michael Jackson and Usher as his favorite musicians - makes his U.S. debut at two sold-out shows at the Theater at Madison Square Garden on Thursday and Friday.
In 1998, Rain auditioned for Korean rap superstar J.Y. Park - Rain's mentor and songwriter - who remembers the singer as a hungry 17-year-old artist with "desperation" in his eyes.

"He was a tiger who was about to starve to death," says Park, who performed as J.Y.P. "He came from the poorest of the poor."

At his Seoul-based J.Y.P. Academy, Park trained Rain like an old-school talent for 3 1/2 years, schooling the young performer in music, dance, fashion, etiquette and even current affairs.

"For the first two albums, everyone called him 'Little J.Y.P.' and that pissed him off," says Park, who has composed music for Will Smith, Mase and Omarion. "Now people call me Rain's producer."

The muscular, 6-foot-3 singer - whose voice has received comparisons to Usher's - brings with him brooding good looks, martial-arts infused dance moves and a built-in Asian-American fan base.

Many of his fans here were won over by his appearances on the popular Korean soap opera "Full House," which first aired in 2004 and is now showing with subtitles on ImaginAsian TV - the 24-hour Asian-American network co-sponsoring Rain's two city shows.

Rain "is emblematic of the kind of interest and cross-cultural acceptance that is currently taking place with Asian culture," says ImaginAsian Entertainment CEO Michael Hong.

Rain's third album, "It's Raining," has reportedly sold more than 1 million copies in several Asian countries and territories, including Japan, China and Thailand, since debuting in 2004. He's become such a huge star in Asia that Pepsi recently anointed him the soft drink's main celebrity endorser in China.

For his Garden shows, Rain will sing mostly in Korean - with a smattering of basic English phrases such as "But I love you" and "Let the music control my body" - and dance to catchy arrangements of hip-hop beats, soulful R&B melodies and simple pop hooks.

Rain will perform not only in front of his thousands of adoring admirers, but also the U.S. music-biz execs he wants to impress. His first major American release, his fourth album, is due out in America this fall - and he hopes it will have the backing to succeed in a market that has almost entirely kept Asian singers out of the mainstream. "

I'm a representative of Asian and Korean pop culture, so I'm excited," Rain tells The Post from Japan, where he's promoting two singles before and after his MSG shows. And "if I can't make it this time, I have the strength and power to make it someday."

By SI-YEON KIM and DAN KADISON
Source: http://www.nypost.com/entertainment/62458.htm