Jerome White Jr. is on stage and is about to perform. With his hip hop garb of baggy jeans, oversized shirt, do rag, and baseball cap, one would think he’s about to perform some hip hop songs…but instead he sings maudlin love ballads…in perfect Japanese.

Growing up in Pittsburgh, “Jero” (as he’s called in Japan) got hooked on enka music played by his Japanese-born grandma. Enka music is quite similar to country music, it wallows in heartache and hopeless love. Starting from age 5, Jero began singing the enka in broken Japanese. Now 26, he sings in Japanese perfectly.

image credit: imprinttalk.com

He has quite the following in Japan and does quite well with the ladies, between the ages of 8 to 85. His great vocals have been praised by the public, and critics say he has a new sound, being “crisp and fresh”. When I first saw him singing on youtube, I was quite amazed. Jero has quite an interesting story…from growing up in the working class in Pittsburgh and attaining stardom singing enka in Japan. Hopefully Jero will spark interest within the younger generation for this genre of music. Good luck Jero! His first single came out on February 20, 2008.

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