I'm trying to get Sturgill Simpson next. Mastered by Dave McNair. In songs like this, Fantastic Negrito has something much more to show than that: inspiration. So I'm just getting to know animals, kids, it's an incredible time. Here, Fantastic Negrito leans heavily on Prince for both his kinetic funk workouts and slow jams, so much so that the album can sometimes seem like a sideways tribute to the Purple One. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - AUGUST 03: Fantastic Negrito performs during 2019 Lollapalooza day three at ... [+] Grant Park on August 03, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. So I feel great writing this music now. I'm there. The nigga song They tried to break him down "Bam!" Ain’t no way out of here The people are my record company. What I discovered was just play two chords. Blues with a punk attitude from Oakland, … Car hit me, in a coma three weeks, damaged every part of my body and it took away my playing hand. So I'm always writing about these topics, like Have You Lost Young Mind Yet? Mixed By Matt Winegar. That's when the stuff can be so pure. So I went to L.A., had a dream — "I want to sign a record deal, I want to be a star." And to Chicago he turned to Crips and Bloods in California I have written for Billboard, Rolling Stone, the L.A. Times, Yahoo, Vice and every other major publication as well as host the Hulu interview series Riffing With and. Met up with Jimmy Iovine, gave me a million-dollar advance at that time. Now what you say They tried to break him down Engineered By Jabari Tawiah & Migui Maloles. Don't we got gang my niggas? So I live on the farm too. And that's my goal, to harness that energy, no matter what it is.". No way out of here I'm a recovering narcissist, but back then I was still a complete insane narcissist. Mmmh, no That's how people got to know me, get out into the streets, keep your finger on that pulse of society. (P) 2020 Fantastic Negrito under exclusive licence to Cooking Vinyl Limited 14-08-2020 Oooh we keep travelling I need this song Oh a nigga song I hate this song The Oakland-based singer-songwriter’s persona is an amalgamation of the beautiful, the humble and the absurd, complete with a taste for the unconventional. No interest in superstardom or anything like that, just making great music, contributing something and keep recovering from this narcissism. I don't really have to; I've got my own style, my own sense of fashion, I'm in my own community, I'm in California, the Bay Area, the greatest tribe ever. There's such a power and I'm in the middle of it. Baltin: Having been through that do you feel a responsibility to show younger artists it can all be taken away in a moment? So it's so beautiful to be, especially me, I'm a middle-aged dude, man, I ain't looking for nobody and nobody looking for me either. Ouça álbuns e faixas de Fantastic Negrito. Select from premium Fantastic Negrito … I'm driving in Hollywood at the peak of my delusion. No way out of here I'm the village elder now. Unless your people hung from trees I get down on the farm. Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. It would have been timely any time because I don't really follow trends. Oh a nigga song Always trying tame a nigga My studio is really like an art gallery, so that vibration of just collaborating with artists and people dropping in, socially distancing and playing some music is pretty fascinating. That made me come back to Oakland, I quit this music thing, "I can't do it, can't really play." My mom and dad got killed by KKK i was like eight years old Find Fantastic Negrito bio, music, credits, awards, & streaming links on AllMusic - An inventive modern-day blues musician who plays… I dress the way I dress because of the way I feel being 52. Find the perfect Fantastic Negrito In Concert Birmingham Al stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. "Howlin' Wolf, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, these people blow my mind.". Negrito: The last session I did before the pandemic was with Sting. Negrito: Man, the congregation is saying, "Amen" right now and the congregation is applauding you because you hit the nail on the head. Till I dropped the E added the A and I killed the R I feel like you just create. **New Single** How Long? Steve Baltin: Is this a prolific time for you? And slaved till dawn I have had countless amazing experiences in music, from tea with Neil Young and hanging in a limo with Stevie Wonder to drinking beer bongs with the Foo Fighters in Vegas and being onstage with Skrillex. His 2016 album The Last Days of Oakland won a Grammy award for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 59th Grammy Awards. Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz (born January 20, 1968), better known by his stage name Fantastic Negrito, is an American singer-songwriter whose music spans blues, R&B, and roots music. #stayathome #playathome #musicheals From the album "Have You Lost Your Mind Yet"? On your first two albums as Fantastic Negrito, The Last Days of Oakland (2016) and Please Don't Be Dead (2018), you took a bigger-picture approach in talking about issues plaguing the country such as gun violence and homelessness. Official website of the Black Roots Music Artist nominated for his third GRAMMY® award for best contemporary blues for the album Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?. From Mississippi he went up to New York Baltin: Have these songs changed for you with all that has happened in the world this year? [Outro] I love that he is so free with what he is doing and it seems like there are no boundaries. Just artistically, all these people, what David Bowie was able to do; early Prince I say because the early Prince was amazing. The Last Days of Oakland Fantastic Negrito. I write about music and the business of music. 4,075 talking about this. The road is long Adira ao Napster e aceda a canções completas no seu telemóvel, computador ou dispositivo de áudio doméstico. I love these classic people," he says. Listen to albums and tracks from Fantastic Negrito. In 2019, his album Please Don't Be Dead won the same category for the 61st Grammy Awards. I come back, start growing a lot of weed, I make this art collective of like writers, artists, and I was just the grower. I like topics that just transcend the moments. I got a responsibility. And the collaborations. They tried to break him down I really am enjoying this. Part of the reason for the 52-year-old Bay Area native's fervor for music comes from studying the greats. " They tried to break him down I dropped the E added the A and killed the R Join Napster and access full-length songs on your computer, mobile or home audio system. Fantastic Negrito has a place at the mic, too. They have shared bills before but hatched the idea for a duo livestream together on the phone during the pandemic. And then the studio is a whole different level now because I haven't been home in five years. Always tryning to shame a nigga When you listen to Fantastic Negrito, you’re invited to hear the story of life after destruction. Baltin: Talk about the freedom you feel as an artist right now. All Rights Reserved, This is a BETA experience. Remember when you were 17 and you didn't give a f**k? I feel like every song I am writing, that's my theme to my life, helping. Taj Mahal and Fantastic Negrito re mutual fans, SF East Bay neighbors and, more recently, good friends. I think of new artists I think of someone who's kind of fascinating to me, much younger than me, Kendrick Lamar. Typical story, you've heard it before. Both men are self-taught multi-instrumentalists whose timeless music stirs the soul. "I'm enjoying my life to the fullest. I have written for Billboard, Rolling Stone, the L.A. Times, Yahoo, Vice and every other major publication as well as host the Hulu interview series Riffing With and teach music journalism for Grammy Camp. Negrito: I feel like since the beginning of Fantastic Negrito my idea was get out into the streets. Grant Park on August 03, 2019 in Chicago, Illinois. Tell me what happened. Written By Fantastic Negrito. So as he says in this inspiring conversation he had to want to come back to music and work for it. That's what my whole thing is about. Duh, that could have been 10 years ago or today. I spoke with Negrito about his road back, why he is enjoying it so much now, his responsibility to be a mentor for younger musicians and being part of an art commune. I went through a period where I hated it and I was trying to be this and trying to be that and fit into this repressed version of some corporate mother f**ker of how I should look and how I should sound, what songs I should sing and I knew I couldn't fit into the confinement of corporate media. They'll come one day. It is such a great opportunity to reinvent, reconnect, reexamine, redial, re-everything. I buried enough of my friends in their 20s. And basically in that process of taking those five years off I felt the music again because I'm in the community of brilliant artists all the time and just feeding off that energy. And I discovered the power of those delta blues musicians. I wasn't seeking fame on this last run, I was seeking that. I just don't have those royalties (laughs). Fantastic Negrito is an enigma. "The beautiful thing about the Negrito journey is being in … On this album I'm with E-40, legendary Bay Area rapper. So the beautiful thing about the Negrito journey is being in touch with that inner 17-year-old again and just reclaiming it. Like I'm not a pop star, I'm not a rapper, I'm not a pretty white girl singing. And slaved till dawn [Intro] Unless your people hung from trees No way out of here When not writing about music I am hanging with my dog, playing basketball and eating sushi in sunny Southern California. Baltin: Are there artists that are role models for you? And then something terrible happened. It was just really about the music was the feeling, it was the spirituality and the conviction. © 2021 Forbes Media LLC. I'm this Fantastic Negrito character that lives in the streets with guitars and records in an art gallery and I'm with the people. Mmmmmmm! To heal my scars Negrito: Tom Waits is definitely one of them, that mother f**ker can do whatever he wants. Don’t sing along I know I'm not gonna get a billion followers and all that. And I got into blues, black roots music, which I call black roots. I don't care. Negrito: I was in Oakland, grinding, street hustling, selling drugs and then a lot of my people started getting picked off. Why is it meaningful to write about those topics? Met up with Prince's managers, they signed me right away. I think that from day one any record I was making as Fantastic Negrito could be relevant, just because having the finger on the pulse. [Interlude] Fantastic Negrito: This is not only a prolific time, but it is a learning moment too. Fantastic Negrito has two Grammys, a superb new album and one of the best attitudes in music. Fantastic Negrito is Black Roots music for everyone, Blues with a punk attitude from Oakland, CA Release Date June 3, 2016. [Verse 2] Well. 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His stellar new album, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?, out this Friday, is drawing stellar reviews and a lot of mainstream attention, including a performance of the lead single, "Chocolate Samurai," on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. He dips into paisley-flavored rock in the vein of Sly Stone on "Platypus Dipster" and reels in E-40 for an interpolation of the Bay Area rapper's classic "Captain Save a Hoe," but these are accents on an … That's a whole other thing that's coming next year. It's just amazing and I want to be that and continue to be that. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/Getty Images), Fantastic Negrito has one of the best attitudes you will ever hear in music. " I feel like people are saying, "Oh, it's right on time." But the bigger part comes from a near-death experience that cost him the use of his hand and drove him from music for five years. Grammy Award Winner Fantastic Negrito interpretiert den BluesRock so modern, erfrischend und kantig wie kaum ein anderer Künstler heutzutage. Always tryning blame a nigga And I was like, "Man, I don't want to die on these streets." Every song I write is a protest song because I'm really talking to my children, to your children, my neighbor's children because I felt like the beauty and power of life, after facing near fatality, becoming challenged, was like, "Hey, you gotta take the bulls**t, turn it into good s**t." And everything that was adversity turns into power. So I'm screaming it, I'm preaching it on every album. Negrito (real name Xavier Dphrepaulezz) lived in obscurity for 11 years. One day you must understand "It's going into a lot of my ancestry and background," he says. Even writing "I'm So Happy I Cry" what influenced me was watching these 20-year-olds, like Juice WRLD have everything but still medicating and still needing to have 70 pounds of marijuana on an airplane and dying in their 20s. I love it! That's my lifestyle for me and my family, getting up and feeding the soil, getting eggs every morning and growing amazing crops. But Tal Mahal was from the Bay Area too. The label will release the artist's fourth album, a record that will revolve around Dphrepaulezz's heritage. They tried to break him down [Verse 1] His 2020 album, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?won Fantastic Negrito his 3rd Best Contemporary Blues Album G… "I found out my whole origin of where I thought I was from was completely different when I started digging and it was incredible." Winner of the first NPR Music Tiny Desk Contest in 2015. It's so fascinating to be this kind of obscure, eccentric, fun-loving, interesting artist in the Bay Area. I f**king love it," he says with an ear to ear grin on our Zoom call. I'm striving to be like Robert Johnson, like Skip James, like Sly, like the Beatles, like James Brown. You may opt-out by. It's so powerful to be a middle-age artist because the not giving a f**k level is so high. Of course, a two-time Grammy winner for Contemporary Blues Album (in 2017 and 2019), Negrito isn't as obscure as he thinks. We don't have to live like that. ︎ What we do today might dust tomorrow I heard mama sing with so much sorrow She told me good deed will never follow Never follow me When she lost her third son to violence She walked through the farm, the people silent She woke up this day on a lonely island They’re lonely island … Fame on this last fantastic negrito alabama, I 'm screaming it, I was still a complete insane narcissist know,. A complete insane narcissist ker can do whatever he wants me right away a duo livestream on... 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