Jero – The Enka Singer I Never Knew
I had to take a quick break from my hiatus (break from my break, lol) to talk about Jero. I don’t listen to enka at all, unless its in an anime but sometimes Tumblr really gives me something that sparks my interest. When I think of Enka music, I generally think of old people or old and sad Japanese movies. It never crosses my mind to envision an Enka singer being an older Japanese person, not a young Black American of Japanese descent (his grandmother was Japanese). I don’t know about anyone else but I’m actually interested in listening more to Enka, though I have no idea what they’re saying. I’ve listened to a few songs by Jero and they have been very soothing and beautiful. Jero is the first Black American to sing Enka music and he is successful at it. He manages to do it while still looking “cool”, though I am not impressed with his hats. Its nice to see people doing what is not exactly expected of them based off looks. He took a chance and stepped out of the box in what I consider a big way. Granted, he is of Japanese descent so he didn’t really step that far but he is definitely not your stereotypical Enka singer.
THE LADY AND ANIME 