[3] Jero began singing Enka at the age of six and continued to study the Japanese language all throughout high school and college.

Jero first began pursuing his dream to become an Enka artist because of the influence of his Japanese grandmother Takiko, who had met his grandfather, an African-American serviceman, at a dance during World War II.

[9] He only began to actively work towards becoming an Enka singer because he had promised his grandmother that one day he would someday perform at the annual Kohaku Uta Gassen song show.

[5] As a result, he actively participated in numerous singing contests while he continued to work as a computer engineer and eventually achieved real success after only two months since he had arrived in Japan.

[24] In addition, he also appeared in the 30th Anniversary Gala Celebration of the Japanese American Cultural and Community Center in Los Angeles on March 30, 2010.

[25] African-American culture has been popular among a segment of young Japanese since the mid-1990s, so many are hoping that he will be able to spark interest in enka in the younger generation.

[28][29] After pleading with his management company, he was allowed to maintain the hip hop image and to great success as it is one of the many factors that contribute to his popularity.