Jero - more info on Japan's Enka Singer

Jero is a 1/4 Japanese and 3/4 African American Enka singer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who will be a professional Enka singer in Japan this month.

Enka is a Japanese traditional and melodramatic song style, that was mostly popular for the older generations. Most Enka singers used to be 50, 60 year old, but recently that trend is changing dramatically in the Enka industry with the popularity of new young and good looking Enka singers.

Jero’s Japanese grandmother exposed him to enka music, building a great love in him for traditional Japanese music. I am not a big fan of Enka, but he does sing good, better than regular Enka singers out there in Japan. It’s the matter of if older Japanese people accept the fact that he looks different. (Source: Japan Probe)

Japan's Hip Hop Style'd Enka Singer!

Jero - 2008 Best Artist Japan

Jerome White, a 27-year-old African-American from Pittsburgh who learned to sing in the traditional Japanese enka style by listening to his grandmother’s records, was named 2008 Best New Artist at the 50th Annual Japan Record Awards Dec. 31.

And it was a fitting end to a storybook year which saw White, known as “Jero” in Japan, rise from an English language teacher in Wakayama to a household name in Japanese entertainment. Later, that same evening, Jero, a 2003 information science graduate from the Univ. of Pittsburgh, fulfilled a promise he made to his dying grandmother to sing enka on NHK’s fabled Kouhaku Utagassen New Year’s Eve broadcast

White who traveled to Japan during his high school days to compete in a speech contest, learned the language from his grandmother, in high school and at Pitt. He returned to Japan in 2003 as an exchange student. He later found work as a computer engineer and English teacher.

Jero’s mother flew from Pittsburgh and was in the Kouhaku audience to hear her son keep his promise to her mother who passed in 1998.

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Republished under creative commons license.

Black Enka Singer Jero Takes Japan by Storm

The American-born Jero learned Japanese, and developed his love of Enka, from his Japanese-speaking grandmother while growing up in Pittsburgh. If you're not familiar with Enka, it's a syrupy, occasionally ululating over-the-top genre of Japanese love ballad, usually sung by an over 50-year old- basically, the opposite of cool. Jero takes the antiquated music, adds a beat and some real cheesy, out-of-place hip-hop moves, and sweeps over Japan. Funky. In all honesty, though, besides the ridiculous clothing and backup dancers, the guy's got an amazing voice, and it's great to see another foreigner succeed in a very traditional area of a traditionally xenophobic culture.

Jero - Famous Japanese-American Enka Singer

Jero is a well known singer here in japan in Style of music called "Enka" it is Japanese traditional song.

He is the first African American enka singer in japan, his grandmother being Japanese and grandfather african american.  He grew up in Pittsburgh but now lives in Tokyo where he sings professionally.

He is the first black Enka singer, and though his clothing would say he is rap artist, it is sure that he is a wonderful voice!