Comments on: Jero in the Washington Post

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 30 May 2008 22:14:55 +0000

In West Pittsburgh born and raised
Over at grandma’s is where I spent most of my days
Chillin out, maxin, relaxin, all coolin, singing some Enka after my schoolin’

When a couple of guys who were up to no good,
Started talking negative about Enka in my hood.
I got in one little argument and my mom got scared…
and said you’re flying to Osaka, by air

I whistled for a cab and when it came near,
the license plate said Jero, and it had Kanji everywhere…
If anything I could say this cab was rare
but it’s freaking Japan, so who cares???

I pulled up to tha record company about 7 or 8
and said to the cabby “arigato gozaimasu”!!!
Signed an Enka contract right then and there,
and that’s how I became the Fresh Prince of Traditional Japanese Enka

By: RP

RP — Fri, 30 May 2008 17:35:31 +0000

It’s silly why? You give it to the end of summer why? All it is is one opinion of someone who has a biased opinion.

By: The Golden Rock

The Golden Rock — Fri, 30 May 2008 05:31:03 +0000

[...] – The Golden Rock’s favorite Japanese enka singer Jero has been spending this Spring all over the Japanese spotlight as his single remains on the Oricon charts. Now the Washington Post finally found a chance to sit down with him. [...]

By: Irene

Irene — Thu, 29 May 2008 23:29:36 +0000

Young people, including myself, don’t listen to enaka anyway.. so I think it’s good so that more ppl would start listening to enka. He’s kinda different from Kiyoshi Hikawa, as he’s older and is not as *cool* as Jero.

It’s kinda like how the drama “Nodame Cantabile” got many people into listening to classical music, although their acting in terms of performing music was indeed crappy.

By: Xylo

Xylo — Thu, 29 May 2008 15:55:04 +0000

Ha ha, yes I noticed the “Japanese blues” comment as well. I think that based on its banality it would be much more accurate to say “the Japanese version of Country & Western, with more difficult singing”.

Now if you want to talk about “Japanese blues”, without a doubt it is minyou (民謡).

By: james

james — Thu, 29 May 2008 14:16:19 +0000

hip hop is dead anyway, the silliness of this guy doing enka music dressed like that is akin to a visual kei band going to the states and doing r&b. I give it til the end of the summer.

By: ponta

ponta — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:52:54 +0000

Right. I love Ringo Oiwake by Jero, but I don’t think dancing was necessary.

By: James

James — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:39:44 +0000

“Japanese blues…”

By: LB

LB — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:34:28 +0000

Unfortunately for him, that is all he has – a gimmick. He’s probably going to need a new producer if he plans to last. I recently saw Takajin’s (old school singer, sort of a godfather character , especially in Kansai. A male version of Wada Akiko who is content to stay close to his roots rather than go national) review of Jero. Summation: he can sing and sing well, but he’s making a splash because of the image, not the music. He’s been given really lame, crappy enka to sing, and that sort of music won’t last.

His producer has a reputation for chasing trends to make a quick buck and then dumping performers to chase after the next big thing – and being very very good at reading the public and knowing when the peak is coming, so he can cut and run before he starts losing money. Jero might, if he is lucky, make the Kouhaku this New Year’s, but that may well be his last stand.

By: Klumpen

Klumpen — Thu, 29 May 2008 09:21:16 +0000

I’m sorry, but I didn’t quite understand the first sentence the voice-over in the reuters clip says… I think it’s “Germany’s pruels (…?) or enka is finding a newbie”. What is he saying actually? Please, help a confused Non-native speaker.

Apart from that, this is kind of cool. Neither Hip Hop nor enka interest me, but I think for Jero it’s quite a big thing, and I like it for it is kind of unusual.

By: shazzb0t

shazzb0t — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:49:56 +0000

“Part Public Enemy..” Disgraceful.. Nothing about Jero remotely resemembles Public Enemy apart from the hip hop apparel, the baseball cap and the fact that he is black. Give me a break..

By: ダビ

ダビ — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:40:26 +0000

Lol, the hiphop dancing doesn’t really go well with the music.

By: Xylo

Xylo — Thu, 29 May 2008 08:14:56 +0000

Good for him! There are thousands of Japanese out there who are much better enka singers, but he’s got the right gimmick, at the right time.
That woman’s quote sums it up:
“I love the way he looks….He looks very kind and you can tell he is pure of heart.”
Run with it, Jerome!

By: Greippi1

Greippi1 — Thu, 29 May 2008 07:43:00 +0000

And I thought that we finns are the only ones who listen to this kind of shit. The Umiyuki does really sound like Finnish “schlager”. And I just loathe it. Young ppl don’t really listen to it, but at least 90% of those who are over 40 listen to something like http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=jqrt_XkyMzM or http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=6wY3GIXSpaA