I was surfing CNN a while ago and came across a news clip called Hip-Hopper Turning Japanese. Basically, it's about a young black American guy singing traditional Japanese Enka. I thought it was pretty interesting and found another article on him.

That lead me to his music video for Umiyuki.

Personally, I've always found Enka to be interesting. It wasn't always good music, but listening to it is definitely something different. I think he's pretty awesome for what he's doing.

So anyone else a fan of Enka music or heard of Jero?

What is Enka...this is the first time I have come across this word.

Enka is like the Japanese's version of country music. I've noticed that it has very warbling vocals and isn't really something that most people hear outside of Japan. Lately, it seems to be dying out, because young people just aren't into it. But with Jero, he seems to be putting a fresh spin on things and getting people interested again.

Links:
Enka Singer OTOWA SHINOBU
Itsuki Hiroshi - Nagaragawa Enka
Jero - Umiyuki

Wow. I'd only ever heard Enka in a joke format before. Jero's singing is quite beautiful, though. I'm not sure if I like the style or not-- I'd have liked to see his YouTube video before it got taken down. But he has an amazing voice. And that's really awesome that he's getting some love and attention for it.

Thanks for sharing!

Edit: I just listened to the other songs you posted and I really liked them as well. Especially Otowa Shinobu's song. It's a really interesting and different sort of sound.

Yeah, it's definitely the butt of many jokes, sort of like deep country bluegrass. But I find that it has a strange charm.

That link was working just the other day! *sighs* That's ok, I found it again. New Working Link I like his voice, it's really smooth. ^_^

Thank you so much! I really enjoyed that. I like the sort of mixed background music that he had. And yes, his voice was just lovely. Hm... now I want to look into Enka!

I wonder what the response would be if an attractive, punky Japanese guy came to America and started singing bluegrass. xD

I'm sure he'd find someone to listen to him. There's a listener for every genre, no matter how weird it is. He'd probably gain a cult following like a lot of these other J-bands.