http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEmeVeQe56U
A new enka singer has debuted just recently. His debut song is Umiyuki or "ocean snow". He is all over the Japanese music scene. His debut song was the 4th most popular song in a recent weekly ranking in Japan. This is the highest ranking an enka song has reached There is something distinct about him. He is an African-American from Pennsylvania. His Japanese grandmother sparked his interest in enka, traditional japanese songs. He has marked a new era for the enka genre. His name is Jero.
A lot of Japanese people are shocked, surprised, excited, and flattered as they watch an African-American sing an enka song in perfect japanese. His music video is highly amusing. Dressed in hip-hop, wearing a new-era cap, dancing to his own enka song, American style graffiti, and more.
What does this pose for the interesting fusion of tradition and modernity? A minority in Japan singing a traditional Japanese style music. Is it problematic? controversial? normal?
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2 comments:
That was the most bizarre music video I have ever seen. At first I thought I'd left my iTunes on but, no, he was crooning...and strutting along graffiti-ed walkways. Intrigued does not even begin to describe my initial reaction.
That said, however, I thought your reaction or interpretation of this guy's popularity was really interesting.
My goodness, what a music video! I have to say that I very much did like it, and found it fascinating that such an art style would be taken up and re-vamped like it was. It's rather refreshing on so many counts. First, that the gap between "tradition" and "modernity" isn't so vast that it can't be bridged in innovative and positive ways. Second, because instead of seeing the effects of American culture on other countries through imitation of its style and form...this is more of an even fusion. Japanese enka plus American hip hop...though not fused to the point where the two are indistinguishable. That's also one of the salient points of the video- neither culture loses its particular uniqueness.
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