Who knew R&B and enka went well together? Apparently this guy, Freddie, who has become somewhat famous in Japan for this love song, called Kansai Kuukou (Kansai Airport). I have never heard of him before and am finding very little information about him online, but according to the Asahi he's an ex-marine from Alabama who used to perform at bars and lounges in Kobe but was inspired several years ago to incorporate a Misora Hibari song into his repertoire. He calls this genre "ensoul" — enka + soul. Interesting...
(Thanks, Kazu Y!)
Just about every Japanese hiphop artist has done something similar to this (check Jazztronik, M-flo and so on)...but I think this is the first one about Kankuu.
Posted by: twitter.com/bluemagister | April 01, 2010 at 09:19 PM
Perhaps this is a bit superficial of me, but I couldn't help but be reminded of Jero.
Posted by: Haro! | April 03, 2010 at 12:06 AM