features

Mix master: Jero breathes new life into enka

28 Comments
By Chris Betros

There are some days that Jero could definitely use a few clones. Ever since the enka singer made his debut in February, his life has been a daily whirlwind of promotional appearances, media interviews, radio and TV events. “Actually, I’m having fun and starting to get used to it, but I hardly have any time to myself to chill out,” he says, sitting back in the office of his management agency, Victor Entertainment. Of course, the fact that Jero, 26, is the first African-American enka singer in Japanese music history and that he blends hip hop with enka has a lot to do with his skyrocketing fame since he released his debut single “Umiyuki” on Feb 20.

Not too long ago, Jero was just Jerome White, an English teacher in Wakayama. His road to enka began a long time ago when his Japanese grandmother married a U.S. navy man in Yokosuka. They went back to Pittsburgh and raised a family. Jero eventually came along in 1981, and credits his grandmother for the beginnings of his love of enka. In fact, throughout the interview, he refers to his grandmother many times, dedicating his career to her.

His grandmother would sing to him the songs of such great enka artists as the legendary Hibari Misora and Sayuri Ishikawa. “I was singing enka in Japanese to my grandmother before I was 10, even though I didn’t speak any Japanese and didn’t know the meaning of the lyrics. She was so pleased,” he recalls. “My friends didn’t have a Japanese grandmother like I did. I took great pride in that and it made me want to learn more about her country and culture. Of course, growing up in Pittsburgh, I also listened to a lot of R&B and hip hop. Yet, in the back of my mind, I thought if there was ever a chance, I would love to become an enka singer. I knew that would be a long shot living in the States, so I kept it on the backburner.”

Jero’s first exposure to Japan came when he was 15. He spent two weeks in Japan as the American representative in a Japanese speech contest. After he finished high school in the U.S., he returned as an exchange student at Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka for three months during his junior year in college. Jero then completed his degree in information science back in Pittsburgh, and decided to take the plunge and move to Japan permanently in 2003. He worked as a computer engineer and English teacher, but his music career didn’t seem to be going anywhere until he auditioned for an NHK singing program and got on. “From then on, I started entering a lot of karaoke contests. It was at one of those that I got scouted by Victor,” he says.

He had already adopted the name Jero because that’s how his friends kept referring to him. After some vocal training, Victor decided it was time for him to try a single and offered him the song “Umiyuki” (Ocean Snow), featuring music by Ryudo Uzaki and lyrics by Yasushi Akimoto. Its lyrics capture the loneliness of a broken-hearted woman in the Sea of Japan area of Izumozakimachi in Niigata. “I like the words of 'Umiyuki' a lot. It’s a very good ballad. Something I try to keep in mind with any song I sing now is to become the person the song is about and keep the image in my head and try to convey those feelings to the audience,” Jero explains.

Agency asked him to keep hip hop look

What surprised him, though, was when his management team suggested he keep the hip hop look and that he incorporate dance moves into “Umiyuki.” “At first, I didn’t want to do it because I was afraid people would think of it as a parody, me making fun of enka. I was negative toward it but after doing it and seeing the results, I’m glad that I did,” Jero says.

His big debut came on Feb 20 at HMV Shibuya and the spectators loved his song and dance movements. “Umiyuki” entered the Oricon singles chart at No. 4, has since been downloaded thousands of times on the Internet and found its way to YouTube. The Izumozakimachi municipal government got into the act by providing a 500 yen subsidy for households to buy the CD, in the hopes of boosting tourism. “Everyone there is really cheering me on,” Jero says of the prefecture. Even his hometown newspaper in Pittsburgh, the Post-Gazette, picked up the story.

With Jero’s debut successfully launched, the marketing blitz by Victor has moved into high gear. “Currently, most of my days are filled up with promotions, going around Japan performing at shopping malls, local TV and radio shows, doing interviews. At least once or twice a week, I am traveling somewhere,” Jero says.

The big question is whether someone like Jero, with his trademark cap (he owns 40-50) and baggy pants and hip hop moves, can reinvent the genre. “Actually, I don’t think I am reinventing the genre. Rather, I hope I am making it something new for younger people to listen to. I’m really just doing something that I loved to do since I was a kid. Not being Japanese is why I am getting a lot of media attention. If I was just another young Japanese enka singer, it wouldn’t be this big. Still, I wish there could be more focus on the music and the songs rather than having people say ‘Americajin enka kashu.’”

As for his clothes, Jero says simply that’s a part of who he is. “I’ve been wearing hip hop fashion since I was in high school. Now, if I were to wear a kimono on stage when I sang, no one would take me seriously and it would look more like a parody. That’s something I didn’t want to do. I don’t think I’d look good in a kimono anyway. I’ve never worn one and have no inkling to wear one.”

Enka in need of revitalization

Perhaps, Jero is just what enka needs to revitalize itself. Enka songs evoke memories of one’s hometown and traditional values, but have faded a little in popularity over the past decade, despite the emergence of younger singers like Kiyoshi Hikawa. For older enka artists and their fans, the songs express the Japanese aesthetic.

“I know there is a perception that enka is a form of music that only the older generation listen to; therefore, young people don’t listen to it and wouldn’t be interested in it,” Jero acknowledges. “On the other hand, I was young, I listened to it and I liked it. I knew it was something different but I never thought it was weird. So with the music I sing today, I’m hoping more young people will start listening to it and like it too, because if they don’t, then enka will probably fade out.”

As he blazes his own trail, Jero is mindful of those great singers who have gone before him. “The first enka songs I was exposed to were those of Hibari Misora,” he says of Japan’s most popular postwar singer, whose death at 52 in 1989 plunged the nation into mourning. “I think she was a really fabulous singer. Anything she sang, she sang really well with power and emotion. I get the chance now to meet veteran enka singers, many of whom I have looked up to for a long time, and to be able to actually meet them and be on the same stage and TV shows with them is a real thrill. A lot of them are really happy that I came on the scene because they say I brought ‘genki’ to enka music. It’s given them a lot more power and motivation to keep going.”

Mini-album due out on June 25

Jero’s next big milestone will be the June 25 release of his debut mini-album. “It features older enka songs. Some of the songs were picked by my fans through my blog; others were ones I wanted to sing. In all, there are seven songs and the arrangements are different from the original. For example, rock guitarist Marty Friedman plays on one of the tracks.” Jero adds that a concert tour may come one day. “First, I have to get more songs I can sing and then an original album before a tour.” A few years down the line when he is more established as an enka singer, he adds that he would be happy to consider collaborating with a J-Pop or R&B singer. “I’ll be all ears, but don’t ask me to rap. I can’t rap at all.”

He certainly has a growing fan base of all ages, ranging from elementary school kids up to older fans. Young women don’t go crazy over him just yet. “They are really excited to see me and want to take pictures with me, so I’m flattered,” says Jero. “Going out is still OK. It hasn’t gotten to the point where it is overwhelming with fans bothering me. I’m hoping it doesn’t get to that. Everyone is so respectful in Japan. Of course, you get a few people who try to take sneak pictures but most people come up to me and ask. I always wear my cap when I go out, so it’s hard not to be recognized.”

Jero is adding to his repertoire by currently appearing in his first TV commercial – for Kirin’s canned coffee drink Fire Cafe Zero. “That was fun, definitely a different experience. I have some dialogue in it and I sing. It’s funny how to make a 30-second commercial takes a whole day.”

He hopes to take on more challenges such as acting and creating dances for other artists and more routines for himself. “The problem is I don’t have too much time. When I get a bit of time to myself, all I want to do is hang out at home. I like having friends over and playing video games, talking, drinking whatever.” But not cooking. Jero ruefully admits he can’t cook at all, but when he eats out, he says his favorite foods are "yakiniku" and "yakizakana" (grilled meat and fish).

His schedule varies from day to day. “I’m definitely not an early bird. I despise getting up in the morning. Sometimes, though, I have to catch the first plane out to somewhere.” Time on planes or the shinkansen is often spent updating his blog. Despite his fluency in Japanese, Jero doesn’t have that much confidence in his linguistic ability. “For the amount of time I have been practicing, I should be able to speak a lot better. What’s worse is that some days I don’t even speak English anymore. The words don’t come out as quickly as they do in Japanese.”

Staying healthy is another challenge, Jero says. “About all I can do is eat three meals a day and take vitamins. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to do any exercise. I don’t smoke and the staff don’t smoke around me.” Jero loves living in Japan and has no plans to go back to the States. “The only thing I dislike is that it is so far away from Pittsburgh. I haven’t been able to go back and visit my family. They haven’t been over here yet, but I am hoping.”

Jero has one other big hope. His grandmother passed away in 2005 and never got to see him sing in Japan. “I told her that I would strive to get on NHK’s “Kohaku Uta Gassen” for her. I am hoping to do that this year.” As his career kicks up a gear, Jero says he is starting to get a sense of his destiny. “When I am on stage, I still get nervous but I feel like this is what I have been brought here to do. When the day is done, and I am in my own space at home, I sit back and that’s when I feel at peace.”

For more information on Jero, visit his blog at http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/jero/

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


28 Comments
Login to comment

I like how the announcers all treat him, "OH MY GOD! A FOREIGN PERSON IS CAPABLE OF COMPREHENSIBLE JAPANESE!?" Sadly he'll take the Bobby and Sapp place after he wraps up Kouhaku completing his wish to his grandmother and making the Japanese public cry riiiiight before they move on to the next shiny object.

If he has any long-standing success/following it will definitely be with the older crowd. The students I teach are already mocking him and the songs he sings. They'd much rather sing their imitation reggae.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I love the end of his coffee commercial, where he takes a sip and then belts out his name. Jero. What delivery. What a guy.

He's nothing without that off to the side cap though. I predict big things for that cap if they fall out and go solo.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What on earth is Enka ? some youtube link ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

foreigners, running the traditional spot of sumo.....now enka? What's next? hot dog eating champs?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Not a huge fan of enka but don't despite, but He's got a good voice, and more power to him. And yes, he's making way more cash than the disaffected JT hoi polloi complaining about him.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

At first I viewed him with curiosity on TV. But soon I had admired his voice. No other singer has such a beautiful baritone voice in Japan now. (Other major male singers have tenor voice now).

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The guy can sing and sing well. Good to see him doing so well in this market. He also breathes some new life into the rather stagnant world that is Enka. Hip-hop routines, etc. Very colorful.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Good on him and well done. As for those who think he'll be a flash in the pan, I wouldn't be so sure. Enka singers can tend to have long careers. It will depend on whether he can significantly catch that 40 to 60 year old female market, and that will need a good string of hits to get him started. I was talking to one 50-something lady and she loves him. A mix of that "he's so cute" factor with Japanese tradition. The ball, as they say, is in his court.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Jero is a genius, a leader, hope to see more great stories about him. Enjoy Jero.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Glad to see him making his mark and carrying on the traditions his grandmother gave him. But what I find ironic about this story is that his managers wanted him to keep the "hip hop" image. Here we have a young black male, with a college degree, and over in Japan not in the military, and all they can see to do to promote his uniqueness is to represent another "thug image" to an Japanese tradition.

I hope that he has enough foresight to make sure he gets the most of the money he is earning, and not get screwed around too much by his producers. But with them wanting to keep that image, I can imagine that they ar getting the upper hand.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

This may be a rhetorical question, but why exactly is enka so excoriated by JT posters anyway?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If he's that popular he should naturalize, and then run for a seat in the Diet. Let's have a Japanese Obama!

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I dont see a single insult to Jero in these comments. I only see well deserved insults to enka music. Who is hating here? Its not negative to Jero to put down bad Japanese music.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I dont see a single insult to Jero in these comments. I only see well deserved insults to enka music. Who is hating here? Its not negative to Jero to put down bad Japanese music.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

And now for the real test. Can Jero make an enka a hit in the states?

Plain arrogance! The US market isn`t a gauge for success, especially for enka. Can Jero MAKE ENKA A HIT in the states? Waste of time, enka is the most annoying music known to man.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I thought on the special they did on him he worked for some computer company, not an english teacher.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

he's a flash in the pan, but i applaud his bravery

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Jerome White, an English teacher in Wakayama.

I believe he used to be a Nova teacher, I met him in Osaka years ago, he has come a long way. I saw him last night hawking Kirin coffee on a TV ad. Good on him, he should milk it for as long he can, perhaps he can pull out some more hits and not be a flash in the pan.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I totally agree with you cracaphat. It's sad to see such ignorant hate towards a talented and magnetic personality such as Jero. It must be jealousy also, these people would never achieve one percent of the success Jero has achieved so far.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

New life into enka? New life? that is almost an oxymoron. I applaud the guy for his committment and success to an obviously marketed exploitation, but dear lordy, how about breathing first-life into Japanese hip-hop Jero? Do the alive people a favor. But, seriously, I respect you fulfilling your dream and finding the most outrageously unfillable niche...and selling it, goodness knows it is creative and I am jealous of your success and all the undoubtable lovin' that will be thrown in your lap because of it! not to mention money money money...So the teachong gig in Wakayama is out?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

can anybody ?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

And now for the real test. Can Jero make an enka a hit in the states?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

enka is a dead music form, if it was ever alive in the first place, which is debatable

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I give him about another month.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Me too, I hope he has great success. I think it will be good for everyone in the long run. Many Japanese like to give the foreign (mostly US) markets a shot and even though most don't succeed, it's important to try. And I think it's equally as important for more foreign artists to give the Japanese market a try. In the long run it will help to break down the stereotypes and social barriers, but in the short-term ... I so look forward to the long-term hehe.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Great for him, wish continued success.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't think Jero will be able to keep the momentum going. The novelty will wear off by the time he appears on the Kohaku program on New Year's Eve. he's only singing the same song over and over again.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites