JPHiP Forum
HiP Nation => Classic Jpop => Classic Threads => The J-Music Zone => Topic started by: aedon on February 17, 2008, 09:09:16 AM
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2008.02.20 JERO 「海雪」
VICL-36394 [CD] / VISL-36394 [casette] ~ 1143 yen (tax out)
(http://img89.imageshack.us/img89/5351/vicl36394ng7.jpg)
Tracklist:
01.海雪
02.東西南北ひとり旅
03.海雪 （オリジナルカラオケ）
04.東西南北ひとり旅 （オリジナルカラオケ）
[youtube=425,350]yTvvc26rnVs[/youtube]
JERO, 26 years-old, was born in Pittsburgh. His grandmother is Japanese, and to amuse her, JERO sang Enka when he was a boy, and he was attracted by Enka. And maybe thanks to Enka, he didn't have to leave from the straight and narrow. He studied computer science at the University of Pittsburgh and became a computer engineer. However, his passion for Enka grew more and more, and in 2003, he came to Japan to become a professional singer. He spent few years in Japan and won at some amateur karaoke contests. Hearing his rumor, Victor Entertainment, one of the most famous Enka agency, scouted him. After two years, he debuts with this single, 'Umiyuki' in this month.
official site http://www.jvcmusic.co.jp/jero/
JERO'S BLOG http://blog.goo.ne.jp/jeroenka/
(http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/7120/na02154811nn2.jpg)
Respect, man!!! :bow:
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wow. I wasn't expecting him to start singing enka at all. He's got a good voice on him too.
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I really like this guy's style. I'm not into enka but I liked his voice and song.
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He's good. i dunno much about enka, but i think he's got a good, strong vocals.
And nice how he have hip-hop dancing in a enka video. Maybe he's gonna revolutionize Enka music, create a sub-genre...
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great move for making enka more mainstream with a groovy arrangement. furthermore its not your typical grandpa/ma singer. Looking forward how this will do in the charts~
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I will buy this.
I will SERIOUSLY buy this.
Like. SERIOUSLY.
MY NEW FAVOURITE SINGER.
then again it's been my dream to sing enka and rock it like a homes like him.. ;;
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Very Cool. There are more & more Americans in jpop these days so maybe I have a chance lol. & evn more soe he is black & there is ony crystal kay other than him. So if I get famous is Japan I'll get you hipsters a shout on tv lol.
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man...that was pretty cool.
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Whoa. That was great. I'm not much into enka, but I really liked that.
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My eyes and ears are confuzzled. I'm not seeing what I hear and I'm not hearing what I see. :O Gotta give him props tho, dude can sing and looks fly as hell.
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Holy shit! :O
first thing I said when I opened this thread, "This guy is black o_o"
I haven't been this confused in years...
I need to meet this guy so I can give him props.
Makes me wonder though, does he usually dress like that or did they make him dress like that to fit the stereotypical black guy :lol:
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Wow. I don't even know what to think of this.. :lol:
The arrangement is definitely unique, though, and he can sing quite well. But still, I am confused..
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SUGEEEE!!!!!!!!
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BLACK POW......
wait wtf XD
he was like doing the crip walk and then...bam! nut shot to the face :lol:
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Wow, he sings really good. I'm thoroughly surprised.
@ SITS: Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. That maybe they dressed him up to fit the stereotypical image, and get him to appeal to that crowd, and his singing will appeal with the enka listening crowd.
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I'm officially a fan now :w00t:
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I want to get this single. Lol. I heard about this a long time ago when he was on some TV show from a friend, and have wanted the single since.
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Whoa, dude is getting popular, being 4th in the Oricon Daily Charts. I knew he was gonna do something unique, bring enka in a hip-hop fashion. nice. i don't really listen to enka much, just some. i kinda like his style.
btw, i read the article of this single (http://wiki.theppn.org/Umiyuki) on wiki.theppn.org and it says that the lyricist of this is Akimoto Yasushi (秋元康). could this be the same Akimoto Yasushi, producer of AKB48? maybe just a person with the same name, huh?
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-- -- -- 16 *6 *4／*2 ジェロ 「海雪」
He's certainly getting a lot of attention, and its reflecting on his sales. Get to #1!
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WoW! #2, that's incredible! Go JERO
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This is easily the coolest thing i've seen in a while...been wanting to buy this single for a while now! so good! and unexpected!!!! O0
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My friend just sent me a different video link of the PV (he's a big enka fan) so I gave it a chance.
And damn, it's a GOOD song. I'm getting Itsuki Hiroshi vibes. Of course he's got a long way to go if he wants to be a star in the big leagues (Hosokawa Takashi, Hikawa Kiyoshi, Kitajima Saburo etal) but this is a helluva debut.
Love the shots of the obasans standing in the RAIN for him. Now THOSE gals are fans! It's The Fresh Prince channeling Itsuki Hiroshi.
Anyway he's got a better chance at a career than other gimmicky enka acts, like the teenaged gal who sings in a bikini or Mikawa Kenichi.
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He's alright and all and watching his pv is just pure hilarity... but he's way more popular than I really think he deserves to be. >_>
It seem to me he's pretty much popular just because he's black...
And I'm almost pretty sure the image they're trying to give him is a fake one...
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I don't think he's popular only because he's black. I think it's the combination of the fact that he's black, he sings Enka, and he sings it extremely well. But what most likely really amazes the Japanese is that when he sings Enka, he sounds like and authentic Japanese Enka singer. I mean, If i heard this before i saw Jero, I'd definitely think he was some middle-aged Japanese Enka singer. I would never have guessed he was black. Jero's definitely got some talent.
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Amazingly, he still charts in the top ten on the daily Oricon charts for the 2nd week.
He def. got skills and talent. hope he gets better and better.
Although it's kinda sad u know, that people might take him more of a joke than an actual enka singer. I hope he can proved them wrong and go for it.
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I think Mikawa Kenichi is not only the biggest "joke" in enka, but ALL of geinoukai. He has limited range and is a bad crossdresser who minces when he walks. Yet he appears on the NHK Kohaku Utagassen in spite of all this because SOMEBODY buys his shtick. For all I know, he IS THE face of enka.
So Jero is marketed with a baseball cap and hiphop clothes. Hikawa Kiyoshi wears 70s disco suits and nobody questions HIS vocal abilities. If Jero can expand the scope of enka music then more power to him and his record label.
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I don't think he's popular only because he's black. I think it's the combination of the fact that he's black, he sings Enka, and he sings it extremely well. But what most likely really amazes the Japanese is that when he sings Enka, he sounds like and authentic Japanese Enka singer. I mean, If i heard this before i saw Jero, I'd definitely think he was some middle-aged Japanese Enka singer. I would never have guessed he was black. Jero's definitely got some talent.
I agree with this post, I was pretty amazed by his singing abilities and he really pulled off the distinctive enka vibrato well too. And like Saburo said, "If Jero can expand the scope of enka music then more power to him and his record label." There are other entertainers who have worn some truly doinky clothes and act like doinks, like the ones that Saburo mentioned. Compared to that, I don't mind if Jero wears hip-hop clothes when he sings. It's not like he's acting like a stereotypical "gangsta" or is treated like a doink.
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even though he dress hip-hop, he's very polite and talks in a kind and polite manners, at least from what i see from videos on youtube. I don't know if he was told to act like that or that just how he is, but i'm not feeling the "hip-hop, yo yo yo" vibe from him.
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Just casue some one dress in urban or hip hop gear does not mean they are not nice or don't have manners. get it right.
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that's not what i meant.
What i'm trying to say is that even though he's wearing "hip-hop/gangsta" style clothes, he's not acting like the stereotypical "gangsta" that everyone thinks. It's contrast to what everyone thinks.
I just so u know, i don't think everyone who wears "hip-hop/gangsta" clothes isn't nice and kind or doesn't have manners. i understand that.
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I don't think he's popular only because he's black. I think it's the combination of the fact that he's black, he sings Enka, and he sings it extremely well.
well of course it's that combination that's giving him recognition. But if he wasn't black there would be no selling point, and he'd probably be like any other enka singer. But really, he's not as talented as a lot of you people make him out to be... it's the fact that he's black that's making him popular, and being decent in singing is like an added extra.
The other thing is making him dress like that. He's a walking stereotype wearing that shit. To me, he really is just a joke. They make him dance some crappy hip-hop dance when he can't dance very well. I can't take him seriously. And I don't believe that the younger crowd would actually really buy into all this.
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well of course it's that combination that's giving him recognition. But if he wasn't black there would be no selling point, and he'd probably be like any other enka singer. But really, he's not as talented as a lot of you people make him out to be... it's the fact that he's black that's making him popular, and being decent in singing is like an added extra.
The other thing is making him dress like that. He's a walking stereotype wearing that shit. To me, he really is just a joke. They make him dance some crappy hip-hop dance when he can't dance very well. I can't take him seriously. And I don't believe that the younger crowd would actually really buy into all this.
About wheter or not his image is fake; is he acting or pretending to be polite, or is that the way he really is?. I doubt it's either acting, pretending, or how he really is. I think his image is out of respect of understanding the difference between Japanese culture, customs, etc. So he probably does behave differently when he's with his family and friends in Pittsburgh then he would in Japan. But he's not acting, he's respecting the difference in culture and customs. For example: There is nothing wrong with being self-confident. But in Japan your self confidence could come off as being arrogant. So modesty is usually the best policy. As far as talent goes, Jero could be black, white, green, yellow, if he couldn't sing, he wouldn't sell. Point blank. The Japanese aren't saying, "He's sings decent, but he's black so i'll buy his CD." The talent has to be there. But it's not just his skin color and singing. There are multitude of things that are contributing to Jero's success. For example: in essence, Enka usually appeals to an older crowd. Enka's traditional themes are not appreciated as much among younger Japanese generations who are more interested in Pop, Rock, R&B, Hip-Hop, etc. In an interview while promoting his debut single, Jero said "People who listen to enka are you know a little bit older but you know i'm trying to get enka more into mainstream, get more young people to listen to enka too." And whether or not his wardrobe is part of how he really dresses, or not, i'm glad it was chosen. Jero's style is an urban cool version of Enka that appeals not only to the more common older Enka fans but also the younger fans who many admit did not even listen to Enka before Jero came along. So in a way he has broadened the Enka fanbase. So the notion that the younger crowd wouldn't buy into Jero turns out to be wrong because the new younger fans are most likely the ones that are seperating Jero's sales from other common Enka singers. So show some love man, don't be hater.
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Looks like JERO's going to be a guest on next week's Meringue no Kimochi.
(http://www.imgur.com/files/080316/JeroNextMeringuePreview20080315.jpg)
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yo mang, he looks like the dog beater in that screencap :lol:
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Watching him sing was like watching September 11th, OMG!
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Wow, his single has sold 141,465 copies to date :shocked:
Japanese people seem to be attracted by JERO mostly because of his looks but god, he's pretty good!
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Pretty sweet duet between JERO and Itsuki Hiroshi on a recent (?) ep of MUSIC FAIR 21.
"Chigiri"
[youtube=425,355]Z2VOExvYbJY[/youtube]
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Perfect matchup there!
Jero TOTALLY channels classic Itsuki. I look forward to his tackling some classic tunes by Kitajima, Hosokawa, Hikawa (YES, Hikawa) and even Horiuchi "Mustache Guy" Takao.