He looks more like half japanese half black to me.
He's been famous in japan for a long time, well, i assume he's been SUPER famous since the single "grandfather's clock"(cover song) was released. I heard it was on the top for a few weeks, selling over a million ++ copies. I heard that song and i thought it was a very beautiful ballad.
(It's on the "LIFE IS.." album as well..