Introducing the first African-American Enka singer Jero!
 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yTvvc26rnVs

This guy is GOOOD!! O_O I mean, I'm surprised!

Latest release
http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/jero/img/VICL-36394.jpg
Umiyuki

01.海雪
02.東西南北ひとり旅
03.海雪（オリジナルカラオケ）
04.東西南北ひとり旅（オリジナルカラオケ）

Website
http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/jero/

OMG wow! ENKA?! O.o wow *claps*

Great voice, and he's beautiful!

Wow... he sounds awesome!

It's almost as though his strong voice doesn't seem to match how he looks lol. (not cause he's black... as in, it doesn't look like such a strong voice is in someone like him) kinda like the feeling I get with Gackt sometimes..

I guess I always associate deep strong vocals like that with older people haha.

It's great!

He really speaks Japanese well haha, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbEZi...eature=related (he talks near the end)

O...M..G... O.O;
That's really cool :yes

That's....something you don't see everyday. O_O

I like how the PV is all hip-hop stylized. XD

wow! I am shock he is amazing! Hope he does well!

Wow, that's ... amazing. Totally unexpected, I admit, but his voice is LOVELY! <3 *loves Enka*

Wow, he's so good! I'd want to get his single.

THIS IS AMAZING!!! O_O

Awesome. But why Enka? He would've been better doing Rnb or something XD!

But still great stuff.

His maternal grandmother => Japanese.

Apparently he knows a ton [like 100+] enka songs by heart. :O

As pretty as he is, and gorgeous the song is etc ... I smell a flop.

ENKA?! with that look?! i will try to hear this

OMG! thats so freakin surprising! cool guy!

He's awesome! :D

Truth be told, if Jero did R'n'B he wouldn't really get as much attention. There are too many R'n'B artists out there these days that it's hard for anyone (outside of the usual fan circle) to really distinguish the differences between all the artists.

Jero seems interesting and seems like he is seeking an untapped niche for foreign artists. The song was nice, and he has a good voice, but we'll just see if he can stay afloat with this strategy. The PV was intriguing with the hip hop flair going on yet his vocals/the song totally did not match the PV (but I guess that was their intention).

The song is nice. Plus he has a great voice as well. But the PV was so random I couldn't even watch it XD

I was just reading about him yesterday! Considering how enka is more or less a genre for older people, his presence will probably bring in a young crowd.

It's the black Hikawa Kiyoshi, basically. Ahaha. :)

He's pretty cool. It's something I would NEVER expect. In a million years. Ahaha.

Well, he does like Sakamoto Fuyumi and Itsuki Hiroshi. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbEZiEONhkQ

According to wiki.theppn.org the single debut at #16 on Tuesday and on Wednesday it went up to #6 and on Thursday it went up to #4.

*Edit
Oricon Ranking

First Week

2/19 - #16
2/20 - #6
2/21 - #4
2/22 - #2
2/23 - #3
2/24 - #4

Week Rank - #4
Copies Sold - 34,794

is the single anywhr?...i saw it on jpopsuki...hope someone gets it

hm well I uploaded it at JPS. You can't use torrents?

I downloaded it off of jpopsuki (thanks fanmail!) but I'm curious, the first song and its instrumental cuts off abruptly. Is that how the songs are like on the single?

Wow, thats really good. I hope that his singles keep doing well.

I am seriously impressed. Props to him!!

Oh wow, he's doing amazing. Lets hope he gets to number 1, he deserves it and I'm sure he is very happy and proud of himself for his accomplishment to number 2.

Wow, what a nice voice! It's a shame I don't like enka more :innocent But I hope he continues to do well on the charts!

wawww..super voice..
i like it

anybody has his single? or his discography?

he only has one single, haha. XD

Agreed :yes
He's hot :luv2
But it's awesome that an African-American guy is singing Enka!

WOW.

I'm extremely impressed by his music! Especially in the ENKA category!
+1 new fan!
the cool thing is, I got a japanese grandma too!

I finally watched a clip of him singing on a morning news show and am really impressed! I had no idea he speaks Japanese fluently. He'll do well in the long run if he's able to do more than sing.

LOL no way! The voice and the look don't match, but it's so awesome!! XD

JPOPSUKI has the single..anyone can geT?

^ Single is up in the downloads section now.

Beautiful Voice. I totally didn't expect it. I really liked his single too.

WOW !! this is sooo cool!!! He is amazing !!

just download it
and WOW..he really can sing enka

Oricon Ranking

Second Week

2/25 - #3
2/26 - #10
2/27 - #6
2/28 - #5

he is amazing I hope he gets really popular and can perform on Kouhaku this year. I'm so happy that an African American Enka singer is so popular.^^

First Thelma now Jero, is this a new craze, Blasians? :>

Maybe CK will get more attention now, LOL.

This is just plain weird...

That's what makes it cool :cool It just doesn't make sense!

Wow, that's crazy. What is also funny, is the same person who picked up Leah Dizon picked this guy up too.

I think he can speak japanese fluently though right?

Do you know his name by any chance? o.o *curious*

I would like to add another "wow" to this thread. D:

His style feels too hodgepodge for the music. I dont know, maybe they could have updated the sound to the music? I like his voice though, it's rather hot.

Well, CK's album did reach #1. I think shes slowly gaining attention.

When I was in Japan, hip-hop seemed to be rather popular. Although, I'd say it was more of thr Usher/Justin Timberlake variety.

I was checking out the web page for a store I wanted to visit, and under the description it was a bunch of Japanese stuff then BLACK MUSIC. I'm assuming they were saying that the store played "black music".

Oh I mean company. :tredface:tredface:tredface

Oh okay nevermind then. ^_^

Does anyone have the tracklist in romaji?

^ Why would you want to do that?

Anyway...

01. umi yuki
02. touzai nanboku hitori tabi
03. umi yuki (orijinaru karaoke)
04. touzai nanboku hitori tabi (orijinaru karaoke)

Okay so I just heard Umiyuki, and wow♥

My zune doesn't support foreign characters and I want to know what songs I'm listening to so I have to edit all the tags and such, it sucks.

wow his single is doing pretty good it's at est. 70,000. the first week it sold an est. 34,000 and the 2nd week it sold 35,000.

dude I thought Gackt too as soon as I heard him! :laugh that is so awesome, so not what you'd see everyday. :luv2 plus he's gorgeous.

EDIT: I just watched the interview, I actually understood some of what he was saying. :D I'm learning!!

Wow. SO COOL! He's really good looking, as well. I love the hip-hop meets Enka video, although I wish they incorporated a bit more of that feel into the musical arrangement. Still, he has a beautiful voice for this genre. It sounds like he's been singing enka his whole life. It suits him strangely well.

Apparently he's been singing enka since he was a kid for his Japanese[?] grams. :D

he did really well on the charts
still on the top 3

OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!

*fangirl mode*

I JUST SAW JERO SEXY SELF ON TV! OMG! IF EVERYONE LIVES IN THE STATES, TURN TO CNN HEADLINE NEWS RIGHT NOW! THEY ARE DOING AN INTERVIEW HIM WITH IN A FEW MINUTES! HURRY UP! OMG!

I just saw him on my local TV station news. Wow, that's just so cool.

Here's an article about him:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080311...ntjapanusmusic

lol OMG OMG OMG OMG I hope I didn't miss it! e.e It's commercial...
EDIT: Awwwww I think I missed it because they are just talking about politics...

I want to hear his new mini-album