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Hip-Hop Meets Enka
By Michelle | April 14, 2008
Japan can be a tough nut for foreigners to crack — foreigners who want to go beyond the “tourist” level and actually integrate into Japanese traditional society, that is. In particular, there seems to be this overall feeling that it’s impossible for non-Japanese natives to truly understand traditional Japanese culture. That’s what makes this example of cross cultural expression all the more interesting:
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Jerome Charles White Jr. (aka “ジェロ“) was more or less an average mixed-race kid who was born in 1981 and grew up in Pittsburgh, PA. He majored in information science at University of Pittsburgh, moved to Japan after graduation, and is essentially the first renowned black enka singer in Japan. His first single, 海雪 (umiyuki), has remained on the Oricon charts since its release on February 20, 2008. |
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Interesting, Jero has attempted to blend black American hip-hop culture (which is surprisingly popular in urban Japan) with the stereotypically dated genre of enka… to create something rather unique. You can see it here on YouTube or see a Reuters video report here. There’s just something strange about watching him stand on-stage and sound so Japanese while dressed in his baggy pants and baseball cap (here’s a good reference if you’d like to see what normally passes for enka attire).