JERO: An African American debut as Enka singer
24.02.08Filed Under: J-Pop
We always said that music has no boundaries. On the 20th February 2008, JERO from America, debut as a Enka singer in Japan with his debut single “Umiyuki”. He is the first African American enka singer in Japanese music industry. This is very surprising and unbelievable, JERO’s debut had successfully became a hot topic. “Umiyuki” ranked 16th on the first day of sales and now move to 2nd spot in today’s single ranking chart!
JERO (ジェロ) was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and now he is 26 years old. During his childhood days, he got influenced from his beloved grandmother who is a Japanese, and start listening to Japan Enka music. Since then, he found that he loves the genre a lot and starts singing as well, in order to make his grandmother happy. In year 2003, he came to Japan to pursue his dream to become an Enka singer. He appeared in NHK for two months and won numerous karaoke competition. Then, to become an amateur enka singer, he had vocal training for two years and finally debut in year 2008.
Below is JERO’s debut song “Umiyuki”. He sings well and his voice really suitable to sing in enka genre. I first know him when I watched the his featured video in Music Station one month back. He was wearing hip hop outfit, and suddenly Japanese traditional music kicks in and he start to sing in enka style. I’m going shock for a moment, because I cannot believe what I just saw. But indeed he sings really well and like what I said earlier, music has no boundaries. JERO perfectly interprets this.
You can watch JERO performs “Umiyuki” via Youtube. Below is the lyric of “Umiyuki”. I hope you enjoy his music. JERO, the miracle enka singer!
Umiyuki - JERO
kogoeru sora kara
umi ni furu yuki wa
namima ni nomarete
atokata mo naku narunee aishitete mo
aa todokanu nara
nee isso kono watashi
mi wo nage mashouka ?anata wo otte izumozaki
kanashimi no nihonkai
ai wo miushinai ganpeki no ue
ochiru namida wa
tsumoru koto no nai
marude umiyukite no hira nobaseba
tsumetai maboroshi
seken wo furikiri
sadame dato shinjitanee aisarete mo
aa kanawanu naka
nee isso kono watashi
koroshite kudasaihitori kiri no izumozaki
asu wo matsu kasa mo naku
nureta kono kami ga shin made hiete
uramu kotoba mo
minamo ni keteku
marude umiyukinee aishitete mo
aa todokanu nara
nee isso kono watashi
mi wo nage mashouka ?anata wo otte izumozaki
kanashimi no nihonkai
ai wo miushinai ganpeki no ue
ochiru namida wa
tsumoru koto no nai
marude umiyuki海雪 - ジェロ
作詩：秋元康
作曲：宇崎竜童凍える空から
海に降る雪は
波間にのまれて
跡形もなくなるねえ 愛してても
ああ 届かぬなら
ねえ いっそ この私
身を投げましょうか？あなた 追って 出雲崎
悲しみの日本海
愛を見失い 岸壁の上
落ちる涙は
積もることのない
まるで 海雪掌 伸ばせば
冷たい幻
世間を振り切り
宿命(さだめ)だと信じたねえ 愛されても
ああ 叶わぬ中
ねえ いっそ この私
殺してください一人きりの出雲崎
明日(あす)を待つ傘もなく
濡れたこの髪が 芯まで冷えて
恨む言葉も
水面に消えて<
まるで 海雪ねえ 愛してても
ああ 届かぬなら
ねえ いっそ この私
身を投げましょうか？あなた 追って 出雲崎
悲しみの日本海
愛を見失い 岸壁の上
落ちる涙は
積もることのない
まるで 海雪
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I remember reading about this guy on Japanprobe. I was shocked too but he does sing Enka well.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:20 amJust listen to his song in YouTube. OMG..that’s really unbelievable. He’s really good.
February 25th, 2008 at 8:44 amThanks for the comment.
To be honest, it is kinda funny when he start singing enka, everyone just go “heeeeeeeee~~~?” This really shows that nothing is impossible in Japan.
February 25th, 2008 at 10:40 am*stun**speechless*
The dancing is pretty funny though..
February 25th, 2008 at 8:50 pmyeah, i’m speechless too, well i think everyone will drop their jaws when first saw this. Maybe they just want to stress out the great contrast of both culture, so it’s kinda funny to see him wearing hip hop and sing Japanese enka song.
February 26th, 2008 at 10:16 amAnd now, CNN is reporting it. Checkout their Video section..
March 14th, 2008 at 3:21 pmreally? Certainly JERO was not only making buzz in Japan but International!
March 17th, 2008 at 9:44 pm