Cloud Australia

Encounter with JYP 

Ji Hoon continued with his best to pursue his dreams, and had so far failed a total of 18 auditions, some due to complexes with his appearance, in particular his non-existent double eyelids, which violated a vital rule of the same, perfect, desired appearance that was in demand. His extreme talent continued to be overlooked by his face. He still persisted however, determined, and continued to practice his dancing strenuously.

In the year 2000, Jung Ji Hoon encountered the two most major events in his life. The first was the encounter and meeting with Park Jin Young (JYP) who grew him into the successful music artist he is today and the second was his final farewell from this world to his beloved mother.

At the time, he was in his final year of high school and was currently living with a group of older boys as a member of a dancing team, performing and dancing at the local popular clubs. However, back at home, there was unrest present in the form of Ji Hoon’s mother’s health. Diagnosed with diabetes, her health continued to deteriorate and her delicate condition got worse. Also suffering deeply from financial problems, Ji Hoon’s father, after leaving only a single explanatory letter, escaped to Brazil to look for suitable work to support the family.

So Ji Hoon, still a student, was pressured with a sick mother and his younger sister Hana to look after while still trying to maintain his love for dance. He was deprived of the typical joys of a teenager and often used dancing as a safe haven from all the complications suffered within his family life. As his relationship with his parents got worse, he continued to fall deeper into dance. At the time he was not fully aware of the severeness of his mother’s illness until she was pronounced too late for a chance to live. With his mother’s death, he made a promise that he will do his best to become the best.

Ji Hoon met JYP through an older boy that he knew and JYP asked for an audition tape. Then JYP turned some music on and asked him to dance. He started dancing, and dancing, until 5 straight hours had passed. He had passed the audition.

With JYP, they decided his stage name “Rain”, reflecting JYP’s thoughts and opinion of Rain’s solemn image that audition day. JYP said that he seemed to be wet by sadness and deep thoughts that reminded him of rain, an element now globally known and uttered in regard of a singer and whose name has been imprinted in millions of hearts worldwide.

Rain trained for over 2 years, and during that time suffered a lot from loneliness. These times were extremely hard and marked with many days when he couldn’t even afford the bus fee, which forced him to walk great distances and even starve for 5 straight days. As the years passed, he became scared and started losing hope that he would be able to release his promised album.

However in the year 2002, “Rain” finally released his first album, “Bad Guy” with the title track “Bad Guy”. The results weren’t as good as they had hoped and expected. This was due to the substantial amount of attention that the 2002 FIFA World Cup successes were receiving.