Jero
June 2, 2008 7:36 AM Subscribe
Enka is popular Japanese music which started to become popular in the Showa era after World War II. Until very recently, it's pretty much been popular only with the older crowd or in karaoke. Recently, though, a popular young star from Philadelphia has brought about a resurgence with the younger crowd. Look at his videos and be amazed. Presenting Jero.
This guy has been really popular here for a while and I'm really shocked there hasn't been an FPP about him yet. You see his picture everywhere lately.
This guy has been really popular here for a while and I'm really shocked there hasn't been an FPP about him yet. You see his picture everywhere lately.
Haha! I was gonna do a post on this guy! Like, tomorrow night! And indeed, you do see his picture everywhere lately, due in no small part to the fact that he's shilling for Kirin's popular canned coffee brand, FIRE. But not just FIRE, it's FIRE "Zero", and of course, the word "zero", here in Japan, is pronounced like our enka-singing brother from Philly, that is "Jero". It's perfect! Anyway, it's a big, saturation-type campaign, so you can't get on a subway train car or pass by a TV set without seeing his face.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:47 AM on June 2, 2008
posted by flapjax at midnite at 7:47 AM on June 2, 2008
Pepsi broo.
posted by Dave Faris at 8:00 AM on June 2, 2008 [1 favorite]
posted by Dave Faris at 8:00 AM on June 2, 2008 [1 favorite]
Heh, I thought this was about "Jehro". He's pretty cool too.
posted by JeremiahBritt at 8:09 AM on June 2, 2008
posted by JeremiahBritt at 8:09 AM on June 2, 2008
Great post, schmaltzy wonderful music with a story
There is one amazing book in English about Enka music which I cannot recommend enough:
Christine Yano's "Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song" (Harvard U Press, 2003)
posted by fourcheesemac at 8:34 AM on June 2, 2008
There is one amazing book in English about Enka music which I cannot recommend enough:
Christine Yano's "Tears of Longing: Nostalgia and the Nation in Japanese Popular Song" (Harvard U Press, 2003)
posted by fourcheesemac at 8:34 AM on June 2, 2008
I always thought "enka" was a synonym for "corny generic Japanese pop," but then when a black gaijin sings enka...well, it's a novelty act, as audience reaction to Jero's singing seems to indicate.
posted by kozad at 8:40 AM on June 2, 2008
posted by kozad at 8:40 AM on June 2, 2008
Hey, thanks for the recommendation, 4cm.
Here's one of the all-time greats of enka, Hibari Misora. And note that there's a translation (maybe not the greatest, but certainly better than nothing) of the lyrics to this song on that YouTube page.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:46 AM on June 2, 2008
Here's one of the all-time greats of enka, Hibari Misora. And note that there's a translation (maybe not the greatest, but certainly better than nothing) of the lyrics to this song on that YouTube page.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:46 AM on June 2, 2008
...it's a novelty act, as audience reaction to Jero's singing seems to indicate.
Well, it's certainly a novelty, in that here's a non-Japanese singing enka so well. It's a first, so it's certainly a "novelty". But I don't think it's fair to characterize Jero as a "novelty act". He's actually very good at what he's doing, and I think a lot of his fans realize that. As it happens, I was at my local okonomiyaki restaurant just the other night when the proprietress, an amiable, talkative lady of 60-something years referred to him in a very respectful tone, "saying "honto ni jozu, dayo", meaning very skilled, very accomplished. And she meant it.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:54 AM on June 2, 2008
Well, it's certainly a novelty, in that here's a non-Japanese singing enka so well. It's a first, so it's certainly a "novelty". But I don't think it's fair to characterize Jero as a "novelty act". He's actually very good at what he's doing, and I think a lot of his fans realize that. As it happens, I was at my local okonomiyaki restaurant just the other night when the proprietress, an amiable, talkative lady of 60-something years referred to him in a very respectful tone, "saying "honto ni jozu, dayo", meaning very skilled, very accomplished. And she meant it.
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:54 AM on June 2, 2008
OK, that was a bit condescending to call him an novelty act.. But I'm an elitist musical snob, so you can understand why being a good enka singer doesn't get me as excited as being a good carnatic singer, rai singer, or jazz singer. (Or a good shakuhachi player or Noh actor.)
posted by kozad at 9:53 AM on June 2, 2008
posted by kozad at 9:53 AM on June 2, 2008
You bet as always flapjax
Yano's book deals extensively with Hibari Misora, who is every bit as complicated a figure as Jero
posted by fourcheesemac at 11:02 AM on June 2, 2008
Yano's book deals extensively with Hibari Misora, who is every bit as complicated a figure as Jero
posted by fourcheesemac at 11:02 AM on June 2, 2008
Damn you ikahime!! I wanted to be the one to bring Kiyoshi into the thread.
posted by thedaniel at 12:24 PM on June 2, 2008
posted by thedaniel at 12:24 PM on June 2, 2008
Peel away all the ugly hip-hop veneer from Jero and what do you get? Amazingly, a good singer!
posted by Faze at 5:18 PM on June 2, 2008
posted by Faze at 5:18 PM on June 2, 2008
Is that Yukio Igleasias?
posted by ...possums at 2:53 AM on June 3, 2008
posted by ...possums at 2:53 AM on June 3, 2008
Jero paid his dues too. He performed his hiphop enka songs in tiny clubs around Tokyo for a few years before his recent explosion in popularity.
posted by ejoey at 6:14 PM on June 15, 2008
posted by ejoey at 6:14 PM on June 15, 2008
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