JERO
JERO (ジェロ) is an American born enka singer, and the first black enka singer. Interestingly, despite singing enka music he still has the outward appearance of being a hip-hop artist. As in a interview,he believes that wearing a Kimono,as most enka singers do,is too Japanese for him. He doesn't think he would still be himself if he wore the Kimono. He debuted under Victor in 2008 with the single Umiyuki
Contents
Profile
Stage Name: JERO (ジェロ)
Real Name: Jerome Charles White, Jr.
Birthday: 1981.09.04
Birth place: Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Grandmother's name: Takiko
Grandmother's Birthplace: Yokohama
Mother's name: Harumi
Biography
He was born in the city of Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania. He is 1/4 Japanese,as his grandma is a full blooded Japanese. Which makes his mother a ha-fu(half Japanese). When he was very young,some reports state 5,or 6 he began singing Enka. But until he was in highschool he did not understand what he was singing in Japanese about.
Going to Japan when he was 15,to participate in a Japanese language speech contest for a poem written about his grandma,which is called,"Boku no Oba-chan."(My grandma). While he was in highschool,he was the captain of the dance team. After highschool he enrolled in the University of Pittsburgh majoring in information science,and graduated in 2003. In his third year of college,he went to a university in Kansai. He speaks in a Kansai dialect, but once in a while he will speak in a Osaka dialect. During this time, he went on a three month exchange to a university in Kansai, and during his stay was when he decided he would become an enka singer.
Returning to Japan,after graduation,he worked as a teacher a ESL school in the Wakayama-ken prefecture. At the same time,he worked as a computer engineer in Osaka prefecture. He sang karaoke during his spare time,entering competitions and such. When he entered a contest sponsered by Sakamoto Fyumi,he won 1st place. He ended up catching the eye of Victor,and got scouted.
Taking vocal lessons for 2 years to get the clear Enka voice he has right now, later debuting with umiyuki. It ended up on the Oricon weekly charts ranking fourth. This single skyrocketed to success - selling in excess of 200,000 copies (something unheard of for an artists' debut release in the late 2000s).
As of June 25,he released his debut mini-album. It ended up ranking number six
on the oricon chart,but it has since rose to 5th.He made his first visit on the Japanese music show,Hey! Hey! Hey! On July 7th. We also learned that he and Makidai from Exile are friends,who starting communicating by email.
Discography
Albums
Singles
- [2008.02.20] Umiyuki (海雪)
- [2009.01.21] Eisa (えいさ)
- [2009.04.15] Yancha Michi (やんちゃ道)
Awards & Achievements
- Best New Artist (At the 50th Japan Record Awards)
- Best New Artist ( At the Gold Disk Awards)
- Best Enka Artist (At the Gold Disk Awards)
- Best New Artist (At41st Nihon Yusen Taisho)
