Jero the Hero
Posted on | March 1, 2009 |
________________________________________________
Meet Jero, the American singer who has managed to add a hop-hip twist to a traditional Japanese genre of music called enka. Jero has internalized the somewhat dying genre, stretching its appeal to a much younger audience and making a huge splash in the Japanese music scene. Since the end of World War II, Enka — sometimes described as Japanese blues or Japan’s saddest pop ballads — has been a melodramatic style of music popular with people over the age of 50. Considering the nature of the genre, no one expected a 26-year old African American from Pittsburgh to reinvigorate the style and create an obsession among younger music listeners. Jero’s first single, “Umiyuki,” was released in 2004 and reached number 4 on the revered Oricon music charts, an unbelievable feat that garnered him numerous press interviews, concert appearances and television commercials.
Born Jerome Charles White Jr., Jero grew up influenced by videos and cassette tapes of enka played by his maternal Japanese grandmother. From the age of five, with no idea what the lyrics meant, he began mimicking the music and perfecting his accent over time. Now Jero is a true enka star, drawing crowds in the thousands whenever he makes a public appearance. In a world in which language and culture often present barriers, Jero is a trailblazer, infusing new style into a traditional art form. Most noticeably he has replaced the geta and kimono with a do-rag and a basketball jersey.
Over the last 15 years American styles of music such as hip-hop, R&B, and indie-rock have had a large influence on Japanese musicians. Japan’s younger generation, however, is overwhelmingly swinging to new J-Pop and Japanese rock – a trend that is spreading throughout the rest of Asia. With the Japan-curious climate heating up in the U.S., expect to hear more Japanese music at underground events and parties near you.
Comments
Articles
Choice 2007-2008
About
Categories
Tags
Breathing Earth Cause Marketing Charles Sennott citysquares.com Concepts Corporate Philanthropy DIYCity Eddie Murphy Enka facebook Gaming Global Post Hulu Hype Machine iphone iphone apps Japan Jero lifebeat.com myspace NAU New York New York-Tokyo NY-Tokyo Obama Obama Girl Office Max Paul Newman PSFK Remo Camerota Rude Bear Shantell Martin Shepard Fairey Shin Tanaka social networking Social Responsibility Television The Ground Truth Tokyo TOMS Shoes twitter Uniqlo Woot youtube YpulseJOIN OUR EMAIL LIST
Download the magazines:
2008/2009
---click image to download---2007/2008
---click image to download---Street Attack Blog
303 Grand - Brooklyn
