Jero, the First Black Enka Singer in Japan

Posted by Alex in Music, Video Clips on May 9, 2008 at 1:43 pm


Twenty six year old Jero looks like he’s trying to break into the music industry. With his decidedly urban, hip-hop look, you’d be forgiven if you think that he’s a wannabe rapper… That is, until he starts singing!

Jero, as you’ll see in the clip above, is going to be the first professional black enka [wiki] singer in Japan: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]

Japan Probe has more info:

According to the biographical information on his JVC Music site, Jero’s Japanese grandmother exposed him to enka music, building a great love in him for traditional Japanese music. Jero hadn’t planned on becoming a musician, and had actually graduated from the University of Pittsburg as a computer engineer, but a chance runner-up victory in a karaoke contest led JVC Music to scout him. He’s been in Japan for two years for vocal training and he will be releasing his first CD later this month.

LinkThanks Geekazoid!


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COMMENT

9 comments to "Jero, the First Black Enka Singer in Japan"

  1. ted
    May 9th, 2008 at 5:04 pm

    Not really sure what was so unusual about that.

  2. kid_icarus
    May 9th, 2008 at 5:09 pm

    i love enka! i listen to yoshi ikuzou all the time....in fact i was listening to it on the bus into work today.

  3. rizwan
    May 9th, 2008 at 5:33 pm

    he could have been the first thugged out computer engineer too

  4. B.
    May 9th, 2008 at 5:43 pm

    My Japanese teachers (at Pitt) talk about this guy all the time.

  5. Greg
    May 9th, 2008 at 11:10 pm

    Sounds like the closing credits of a Godzilla flick.

  6. Maj
    May 10th, 2008 at 2:30 pm

    yes! yes! he took my job! > I really love enka

  7. Justin
    May 10th, 2008 at 9:25 pm

    AHAHAHA! His look makes it so unexpected!

  8. Rosi
    May 11th, 2008 at 7:00 am

    I never thought that a black guy could sing enka better than the Japanese themselves! His voice sounds suprisingly good, and it seems to go together with the Japanese language really well!
    It just goes to show, you shouldn't make assumptions based on first appearances! When I saw this post, I just thought "Oh dear", but I was really wrong!
    Kudos to Jero for breaking the mould!

  9. Viola
    May 11th, 2008 at 9:31 am

    His voice is freakin' beautiful


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