Rainism is the fifth Korean-language studio album by South Korean recording artist Rain, released on October 15, 2008. The album was released through J. Tune Entertainment, a subsidiary of JYP Entertainment, and marked the singer's first record released under the J. Tune label. The album produced the singles "Love Story" and the title track "Rainism", the latter of which became one of Rain's signature songs. The album was released in four formats throughout Asia, with Rain also recording its two singles in Chinese and English.
Rainism sold over 131,000 copies in 2008 according to the South Korean Hanteo record chart, and was ranked as the fifth best-selling album of the year. A Japanese edition of the album was released through Pony Canyon on January 7, 2009, which peaked at number 25 on the Oricon Albums Chart with sales of 9,000 copies. A repackage of the album, titled Rainism Recollection, was made available on March 5, 2009. To support the album, Rain embarked on the Legend of Rainism Tour which spanned 14 shows across Asia and North America.
Background and release
Rainism was released in various formats throughout Southeast Asia. The album was released with a new cover.[2] Each version was released with the original track list as well as international versions of his two singles, ″Love Story″ and "Rainism", in English, Japanese and Chinese.
The album was re-released in South Korea on March 5, 2009. The album was retitled, Rainism Recollection and packaged as a limited edition album with new album art.[3] The album was packaged as a three disc album. The first disc containing original track listing (removing the original version of Rainism and replacing it with the clean version), the second disc included all international versions of his two singles, "Love Story" and "Rainism", in addition to several bonus acoustic tracks and a remix of the song Fresh Woman. Disc 3 was a DVD including the music video for the first single Love Story.
Controversy
On November 24, 2008, The Commission of Youth Protection judged Rain's album, Rainism, inappropriate for people under 19 years old because of the song "Rainism".[4] In "Rainism", the lyrics (translated from Korean) "Trembling inside your shaking body is my magic stick/Feeling the impassable limit of the body shake" became a problem, as "magic stick" had connotations of a penis.[5] Rain re-released a "clean version" of "Rainism" shortly after,[6] but instead of changing the original album's contents, the original song was still included on the soundtrack, but marked as inappropriate for those under 19 years old.[citation needed]
Singles
Rain released Love Story, as the first single from the album, shortly followed by the single, Rainism. Both songs were re-recorded in four languages and served as that version for the appropriate country (an English version was issued to SE Asia radio). It was stated that Fresh Woman would be released as a single, but proof of this has not appeared. Rain performed the track, Only You, in support of the re-release of Rainism in South Korea. However, Only You, is not an official single.
On December 10, 2008, Rainism received the Album Bonsang at the 23rd Golden Disc Awards.[7] The title track "Rainism" additionally achieved the top spots on the music programsInkigayo and M Countdown, and won the Best Asian Pop Song award at the 2009 Hito Music Awards.[8]
Paste named Rainism one of The 30 Greatest K-pop Albums of All Time,[9] while Rolling Stone ranked the single "Rainism" number 36 in their list of the 100 Greatest Songs in the History of Korean Pop Music, writing that it "cinched [Rain's] status as K-pop's most overtly sexy star" with its suggestive lyrics "over the top of a throbbing beat".[10]
^"비 '레이니즘', 청소년 유해매체물 판정" [Non-'Rainism' judged as harmful to youth]. Yonhap News (in Korean). Retrieved October 31, 2021 – via Naver.
^"'레이니즘' 클린버전에 '매직 스틱' 빠지나" ['Magic Stick' leads to a clean version of 'Rainism']. Asia Today (in Korean). November 25, 2008. Retrieved October 31, 2021.
^"09年Hito流行音乐奖获奖名单揭晓 五月天大胜" [Winners of 2009 Hito Pop Music Awards announced]. NetEase Entertainment (in Chinese). June 16, 2009. Retrieved May 26, 2021.
