Twenty six year old Jero looks like he's trying to break into the music industry. With his decidedly urban, hip-hop look, you'd be forgiven if you think that he's a wannabe rapper... That is, until he starts singing!
Jero, as you'll see in the clip above, is going to be the first professional black enka [wiki] singer in Japan: Hit play or go to Link [YouTube]
Japan Probe has more info:
According to the biographical information on his JVC Music site, Jero’s Japanese grandmother exposed him to enka music, building a great love in him for traditional Japanese music. Jero hadn’t planned on becoming a musician, and had actually graduated from the University of Pittsburg as a computer engineer, but a chance runner-up victory in a karaoke contest led JVC Music to scout him. He’s been in Japan for two years for vocal training and he will be releasing his first CD later this month.
Link - Thanks Geekazoid!
It just goes to show, you shouldn't make assumptions based on first appearances! When I saw this post, I just thought "Oh dear", but I was really wrong!
Kudos to Jero for breaking the mould!