I normally don’t talk about non-anime related stuff, but this was too funny to resist if you know anything about Rain or popular Korean music. Time Magazine in recent years has been making a list called the Time 100 – The People Who Shape Our World. They also ran an online poll to see who people think should be #1, and the winner of that by a large margin was Rain. #2 was Stephen Colbert, and that’s what led to the above video.

74 Comments

  1. reminds me of one of those outtakes in rush hour, when jackie is bagging on tucker for sucking at chinese “he cannot even say three words!! now you know how difficult is for me!”

    rain is like… able to speak every single asian language, and im sure he does english fine (not to mention his skills at yodeling).

    normally i think colbert tries too hard to be funny and fails about 99% of the time, but this clip is obscenely funny lol

    jaalin
  2. @Hanano: Apparently, a lot of other people around the world had loved Rain. I was surprised by two things with The Times’ list:

    1. Stephen Colbert is not the first person on the list (like Colbert was).
    2. Sanjaya is just behind him on the third spot.

    That completely caught me off-guard. Him? The worst singer ever to appear on American Idol?

    Knightmare213
  3. I’m a big fan of Colbert, and think he’s funnier on average than John Stewart’s Daily Show (maybe it’s the whole deadpan “take me seriously but not” thing that Colbert does so well when he’s lampooning the news, compared to Stewart’s often annoying quirky/unfunny voice impersonations).

    That said, Colbert’s jokes when it comes to Asian issues is hit or miss (one faily recent ep just went straight for the easy cop out method of making fun of Asian accents and whatnot, similar to the Office’s ep with the Benihana restaurant and how Asians look alike – speaking as an Asian person myself, it could have been a lot smarter and funnier than it could have been).

    This Colbert sketch I laughed at. I’ve heard of Rain before but his popularity just baffles me. Not that he’s a bad singer, it’s just that his R&B style is just so derivative and ho-hum average, nothing special to get excited about. But there’s just something strangely funny about a white guy imitating an Asian guy who’s imitating a “black” R&B singing style.

    Ryuma
  4. oh, i dunno. sanjaya had a big impact. at least he was, and is more interesting to talk about than chris richardson/blake lewis who imo are mediocre singers (richardson being less than subpar, actually) and are in large part alive due to legions of screaming fangirls. ick.

    i faintly remember some korean people on youtube going nuts about this.. >.>

    mewmew
  5. Wait, are we even supposed to take anything from Time Magazine seriously anymore?

    While admittedly I have not listened to Rain, regardless of his talents just reading the guy’s wikipedia article he comes off as a processed pop music act that’ll fall into obscurity in about five years.

    nooneofconsequence
  6. I love Colbert! I watched this clip last night at work. I died laughing. I’m pretty sure if it’s Colbert, he can definitely topple Rain on the Korean pop charts.

    NissanNut
  7. It doesn’t matter who is funny or is a good singer or etc. These guys are just celebrities. That said, I think Rain sings pretty good. But of course, it’s his looks that gets a billion girls voting for him.

    Shippoyasha
  8. I don’t think Rain got popular as a R&B singer.Though he can sing, he was always known for his dance skills. and I never understood Colbert trying to speak a language other than English on his show, people just laugh because of either the funny translation or because of his pronounciation.When he was trying to speak Korean, I barely understood him, and I can speak perfect Korean. I think him trying to speak another language is just too much and shouldn’t do it again.(especially the Asian language)

    HJ.Kim
  9. I love you for posting this. But I still don’t understand why Rain is so popular ;_; There’s so much better Korean music than his stuff (zomg Shinhwa, BoA). He does have the fangirl following though. Wonder if it was an e-caused vote rush… (well obviously, haha)

    ShinSenshi
  10. Colbert is my hero. This segment was one of his best ever. Before this I had no idea who Rain was but when that poll came up, I kinda figured this was what it was about. And Sanjaya at #3 just adds to the hilariousness of the whole thing.

    Walrothetacoking
  11. Hm, this makes me wonder just who and what kind of audience vote in TIMES magazine.
    While I do like some of Rain’s songs and admire his dancing skills, I honestly can’t stand his ugliness. He’s got like one eye smaller than the other. Se7en is better by far.
    This clip was hilarious. Thanx for posting it.

    Sarsa-chan
  12. I think it’s fairly obvious why Rain is popular… I mean, he played in Madison Square Garden not so long ago. One of the MECCAS of entertainment. And he does have a great image going for him. I hear he’s popular even in China and Taiwan now.

    As for Sanjaya… yeah… It’s all about the hair.

    Shippoyasha
  13. a….humanity HAS arrived at the peak of retardation when a korean pop star is revered as the predominating cultural influence…this SAYS SOMETHING ABOUT TIME’S READERSHIP….I will leave room for interpretation…anyway, I don’t understand why this is even taken seriously, the sample size of individuals, restricted to only TIME readers, in addition to an unknown response rate from that limited population renders this poll, by default, illegitimate….a….so upset….as you can see…

  14. WAH?!

    ………..

    LOL!!! XD!!! That was so friggin….

    I know I should be offended by all the Korean bashing in that song, but it was too friggin hilarious. “Let’s roll in my Hyundai. We can eat Kimchee” LOL! I have to let my mom see this one. She LOVES Rain. Personally I think he is okay, but definitely not my favorite (then again I am more a rock/punk fan then R&B fan so I suppose I’m bias). Still, there are better K-pop artist, but I still love watching him dance and he’s so HOTT!

    Wow, I had no idea he ranked #1. That’s pretty awesome. Yeah, Korea needs to start making a bigger impact in the U.S. It makes me so proud! Still I can’t believe it was Rain of all people…personally I like Kim Jong Kook better. I just wish he would dance like he did back when he was part of Turbo…ahh, I am getting off subject…

    So yeah…yay Rain, and funny stuff Colbert. I had tears of laughter for a moment there.

    Momogurl
  15. Huhu, when he came to Malaysia some time ago, I won tickets to his live concert. And I was suprised at how high I can sell that ticket to some high testesrone teenage girls….

    linkinstreet
  16. I know him, but I don’t like him…I’m neutral towards him but what really got me ROFLMAO was that Sanjaya Malaakar was 3rd~!
    Wheww…that was sooo freakin’ funny, I should show this to my friends~!
    xDD
    No offense to those who likes Sanjaya btw~!

    Kannie
  17. I never heard Rain singing Album.
    But I hate Koreans because my mother business is renting an apartment when they vacated the room they destroyed expensive items and some stolen the appliances. My friend told me also experience same thing there family business renting a house and stay a few weeks and suddenly a concern neighbor report to the owner, The Koreans transform the Owner house into a dormitory for the students. Thats how I dont trust the Koreans and I will never forgive them. My country is swarm by estimated 70% illegal overstaying Koreans and put some drugs business here to enrich themselves.

  18. I was quite shocked to see Rain #1 on the list. Not that I hate him or anything, it’s just weird to see it. Saw that Colbert video on Youtube and it was damn hilarious! Hahah… Colbert singing in Korean is weird though… =P

    wintergal
  19. @Mango

    Why the hell would you be surprised that there are people that don’t know about a Korean R&B singer? It’s not like he’s 50 Cent or anything (who I admit sucks terribly but he’s easily recognizable for North Americans).

    blind_assassin
  20. Rain can sing pretty well, though honestly Shinhwa’s hits are a bit better musically. Most K-Pop fangirls clamor after Shinhwa too, for their music, and even as a straight guy I think they have good music ignoring everything surrounding their “boy band” image. But what Rain has going for him individually is that he polishes not just his music but he has diverse musical talent, is a good dancer to boot, and is a good performer, being as good live as he is recorded. That skill sets some pop singers apart from others.

    ShinSenshi
  21. Hrm…I had never heard of the singer Rain before…and I find it very strange and depressing that tool from American Idol was number 3…Criminey I hate that show. It just depresses me how many people seem to care more about what future has-been is going to win a crappy, stifling recording contract vs important issues such as financing the deficit, declining social security funds, unemployment, pollution…and just about anything else that is more important…like, lets say…getting kids to do their homework.

    marzaally
  22. I’m not sure if I’m suppose to be offended or to laugh it off; I’m part japanese and part korean. I’m not much a fan of colbert, more of an dave chapelle or mind of mencis fan 😀 Rain is a good singer, dancer and a well-mannered man. Not alot of americans know that there are far more better singing koreans out there but, Rain did get more votes and more popular in foregin coutries like america. I hope SPLAY will get famous in america soon 🙂
    anyways, to mr.shinn you don’t need to have an racial statement stating that all koreans are same. It’s like me saying all white people are the same snotty brat or fags that wear anime t-shirt every day, no offense. But, that’s totally not cool, hating on the korean means hating on us all asians. Well, that’s how I feel. Normally if it’s an korean person making fun of an korean person, I’m totally cool with it, but when an white dude acts like a korean kind of pissed my brother off. And I am happy that Rain was #1

    bibidoll
  23. I LOVE RAIN!! ^__^ Lol does anybody know his song “It’s Raining” ?
    It goes something like this: “Rain. Go Rain. It’s raining. It’s raining.”
    Another song goes like so: “Rain is coming down through the roof-top… somthing in korean…”
    Haha, those two are addicting! But anyway I love Rain. He has many good songs. Glad that he placed 1st. ^_^

    Nyan~
  24. omg…colbert is soooo funny!!! i use to watch his show like everyday until i had to start cramming for my exams…and then i had to youtube his show now…
    bibidoll..calm down…colbert is a comedian (his show is on comedy central)…he make a living by making fun of politicians, entertainers, etc., etc.
    i like rain too, but colbert’s sketch just had me laughing and rolling on the floor

    meow
  25. I actually discovered who rain is a week ago! I’ve started watching the korean drama A Love to Kill sort of to learn a bit of korean (I’m going there this summer, I’m so excited) I didn’t know he was also a singer! I have to thank Jaalin for the yodeling link, that was actually quite impressive. Plus listening to yodeling always puts me in a happy place. ^_^

    By the way, Shinn, your comments totally put me in an unhappy pissy place… Hopefully you’re only twelve and ignorant of the world outside your mother’s basement and unaware of other peoples and cultures (except for what your mom and your friends say about them), but you will leave that basement and discover that those were only shadows on the wall… In that case, it’s okay, there’s still hope.

    nico
  26. Forgive the statement I write such illmanner, I lost control myself I let myself explain a incident happen yesterday when a sports car try to park in a no parking area and hit the no parking area standing post and land in the kid head, and suddenly a driver (korean) step out and shout loudly angrily using his language that I dont understand that thinking he’s right and pointing his finger at the kids face. I thought he’s gonna apologize and gives me a shock and I starting to prepared a fist into his face but a security guard came up and then the driver angry face turn into innocent smiling face.

    Lets forget about that and I apologize.

  27. While I personally don’t really like Rain, I can see how he can be listed fairly high in a popularity scale. He’s now more of an international pop star rather than just being centralized in korea (like shinhwa or fly to the sky). I mean, it wasn’t that long ago when he had his world tour, which i’m sure very few korean singers can even boast about. And it’s more or less safe to say that anyone who listens to asian music outside of anime ost’s and whatnot has heard of Rain before.

    maverickmage
  28. OMG THAT IS HILARIOUS. Bi … I dont know whether to like him or be amused by him (although I do like the song ‘It’s Raining’ but dont tell anyone…). Colbert is as always amazingly funny. I couldn’t stop laughing the entire time.

    I think though, this might have a bit of a negative reception in Korea. Not that I care, but my asian friends consistently tell me (the second generation ones tell me this, and the 1 1/2 gen) that first generation asians (and those living in asia) do not understand sarcasm, parody, and sardonic humor. At first, I didn’t believe them and thought ‘dude… there’s no way’ and so i went ahead and used sarcasm on about ten people I know on exchange from countries in Asia. *NONE of them realized I was being sarcastic* and just to let you know, I was being SO OBVIOUS about it. My voice was dripping sarcasm that it was hard to miss. And they all took me seriously (and got a bit offended….). I had to explain afterwards what sarcasm is…. and then they told me that sarcasm isn’t that common in asia.

    so in all, hopefully when this gets to being shown in asian countries via youtube or whatever, they’ll realize its a joke.

    a very very VERY funny joke.

    ashley
  29. This is a sign! This is a sign that koreans are taking over THE WORLD!!! MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS!! Grab your chopsticks! Take out the KimChi from the refridgerator! and start ruling the world!

    But yeah, i couldn’t understand a word he was trying to say in korean. Korean is not hard to pronounce, do it better!

    Sun Woo
  30. Wow… I like Stephen Colbert… and I’ve never heard of Rain… but then, I don’t really pay attention to Kpop as much as Jpop…
    But then, any online poll will get a lopsided response, seeing as how there are millions of people who don’t do the whole blog/forum/poll thing… so this “Top 100” list can hardly be considered accurate…

    eternal_midget

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