Fantastic Negrito

Trackimage Playbut Trackname Playbut Trackname
An Honest Man 04:06 Tools
PLASTIC HAMBURGERS 03:37 Tools
WORKING POOR 04:00 Tools
HUMP THRU THE WINTER 03:54 Tools
Lost in a Crowd 05:00 Tools
BULLSHIT ANTHEM 03:15 Tools
The Duffler 03:39 Tools
Night Has Turned To Day 02:40 Tools
ABOUT A BIRD 03:39 Tools
BAD GUY NECESSITY 03:58 Tools
In the Pines (Oakland) 04:19 Tools
SCARY WOMAN 03:10 Tools
A LETTER TO FEAR 04:04 Tools
A BOY NAMED ANDREW 04:22 Tools
Nothing Without You 04:15 Tools
Bad Guy Necessity - Acoustic 00:00 Tools
A New Beginning 03:32 Tools
Rant Rushmore 05:01 Tools
TRANSGENDER BISCUITS 03:02 Tools
The Time Has Come 03:29 Tools
The Nigga Song 03:16 Tools
Plastic Hambugers 03:37 Tools
THE WORST 03:51 Tools
The Suit That Won't Come Off 00:00 Tools
A Cold November Street 00:00 Tools
DARK WINDOWS 00:00 Tools
Push Back 03:53 Tools
Never Give Up 00:00 Tools
She Don't Cry No More 04:00 Tools
Nobody Makes Money 04:01 Tools
The Shadows 00:00 Tools
In The Pines 04:19 Tools
Intro - The Last Days of Oakland 00:00 Tools
A Long Long Road 03:36 Tools
Interlude - What Would You Do? 00:00 Tools
The Duffler - Acoustic 00:00 Tools
Fever 04:27 Tools
Interlude 2 - El Chileno 00:00 Tools
Dark Windows - Acoustic 00:00 Tools
In the Pines - Oakland 04:19 Tools
Last Days of Oakland - Intro 00:35 Tools
What Do You Do - Interlude 1 01:19 Tools
El Chileno - Interlude 2 00:00 Tools
The Time Has Come (Unplugged) 00:00 Tools
What Do You Do (Interlude 1) 00:00 Tools
Last Days Of Oakland (Intro) 00:00 Tools
The Suit That Won't Come Off - Acoustic 00:00 Tools
It's A Long Long Road 00:00 Tools
A Cold November Street - Acoustic 00:00 Tools
El Chileno (Interlude 2) 00:00 Tools
An Honest Man (Bonus Track) 00:00 Tools
Last Days of Oakland 00:00 Tools
Push Back - Oakland Resist-Mix 00:00 Tools
The Na Song 00:00 Tools
It's a Long, Long Road 00:00 Tools
NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert 00:00 Tools
What Do You Do 00:00 Tools
The Time Has Come (Reprise) 00:00 Tools
El Chileno 00:00 Tools
Dark Windows (Acoustic) 00:00 Tools
The Oakland Resist-Mix 00:00 Tools
Bad Guy Necessity (Acoustic) 00:00 Tools
The N***a Song 00:00 Tools
Fantastic Negrito NPR Tiny Desk Concert 00:00 Tools
The Suit That Won't Come Off (Acoustic) 00:00 Tools
Hump Through The Winter 00:00 Tools
The Duffler (Acoustic) 00:00 Tools
The Last Days of Oakland (Intro) 00:00 Tools
B******t Anthem 00:00 Tools
A Long, Long Road 00:00 Tools
A Cold November Street (Acoustic) 00:00 Tools
Intro - Last Days Of Oakland 00:00 Tools
Interlude 1 - What Do You Do? 00:00 Tools
Scary Women 00:00 Tools
Cold November Street (Acoustic) 00:00 Tools
The Duffer 00:00 Tools
Bad Guy Necessary 00:00 Tools
Working Poor [Explicit] 00:00 Tools
An Honest Man [Bonus Track] 00:00 Tools
The N**a Song 00:00 Tools
An Honest Man (Hand Of God Theme Song) 00:00 Tools
An Honest Man (OST Десница Божья/Hand of God) 1.01 00:00 Tools
The Nigga Song [Explicit] 00:00 Tools
What Would You Do? (Interlude 1) 00:00 Tools
Lost In The Crowd 00:00 Tools
Plastic Hamburgers (Official Video) 00:00 Tools
Plastic Hamburgers [Explicit] 00:00 Tools
Interlude 1 - What Do You Do 00:00 Tools
Cold November Street - Acoustic 00:00 Tools
Tiny Desk Concert 00:00 Tools
Bullshit Anthem [Explicit] 00:00 Tools
Long, Long Road 00:00 Tools
Working Poor (Explicit) 00:00 Tools
Scary Woman (Live from Viaduct) 00:00 Tools
02 Working Poor (Explicit) 00:00 Tools
07 In The Pines 00:00 Tools
06 The Nigga Song 00:00 Tools
Transgender Biscuits [Explicit] 00:00 Tools
The n*gg* Song 00:00 Tools
Welcome to Daytrotter 00:00 Tools
The Last Days Of Oakland 00:00 Tools
Push Back (Oakland Resist-Mix) (feat. Mistah Fab & Zion I) 00:00 Tools
PLASTIC HAMBURGER 00:00 Tools
Honest Man 00:00 Tools
A New Beginning .RA 00:00 Tools
1. Lost in a Crowd 00:00 Tools
Push Back (Bonus Track) 00:00 Tools
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Fantastic Negrito is the stage name of Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz (born 1968), an African-American singer-songwriter whose music has spanned blues, R&B, and roots music. “Fuck a popstar. Fuck pandering. Fuck fakeness. Fuck fear.” Fantastic Negrito is the incarnation of a musician who is reborn after going through a lot of awful shit. In fact, the name Fantastic Negrito represents his third rebirth, literally coming back from death this time. The narrative on this man is as important as the sound, because the narrative is the sound. Songs born from a long hard life channeled through black roots music. Slide guitar, drums, piano. Urgent, desperate, edgy. Fantastic Negrito is the story of a man who struggled to “make it”, who “got it”, and who lost it all. For anyone who ever felt like it was over yet hoped it wasn’t, this is your music; blues harnessed, forged in realness. For anyone who ever considered getting their old high-school band back together, this is your inspiration. These are singular songs by a true musician who writes and produces. They are his fuel as he embarks on the third comeback of his life. The first life (‘who am I and where am I going?’). Fantastic Negrito was raised in an orthodox Muslim household. His father was a Somali-Caribbean immigrant who mostly played traditional African music. When, at the age of 12, Negrito’s family moved from Massachusetts to Oakland, he was hit with an intense culture shock. Oakland in 1970s was a million miles from Negrito’s conservative childhood. He went from Arab chants to Funkadelic in one day, living in the heart of one of the wildest, most infamous, most vibrant black communities in the nation. Shit was extra real in Oakland. By the time he was 20, Negrito had taught himself to play every instrument he could get his hands on. He was recording music, but he was also caught up in street shit. This went on for several years until a near death encounter with masked gunmen. After that Negrito packed his bags and headed to LA, armed with a demo on cassette. The second life (‘I want to be a star…I think’). It didn’t take long for Negrito to find himself entrenched in the ‘Hollywood’ lifestyle; “clubs and bitches and bullshit politics that have nothing to do with great music.” Negrito signed with a big time manager and soon after that, a million dollar deal at Interscope …and soon after that, creative death. The record deal was a disaster. Gangsta rap was ruling the airwaves and Negrito was in the wrong place at the wrong era. Negrito came out of the deal with a failed album and his confidence gutted. He was infected by the constant emphasis on ‘what would sell’; which looks, hooks and gimmicks would attract an audience. He lost all sense of himself. The songs stopped coming to him, so he quit. He sold all of his shit and he quit. In 2000, Negrito was in a near fatal car accident that put him in a coma. For four weeks it was touch and go. Because his muscles atrophied while bedridden, he had to go through months of frustrating physical therapy to regain use of his legs. Rods were placed throughout his body. And worst of all, his playing hand was mutilated. Though he rehabbed intensely for several years, the damage was permanent. In 2008, he returned home to Oakland. The third life (the birth of Negrito). Back in Oakland, Negrito forgot about life as a musician. He got married, he planted vegetables, raised his own chickens, and made money growing weed. He also settled into being a man, on his own, clear of the distractions of wanting to be a star. This is when his specific POV of the world came into focus. His conservative Muslim values melded with the liberal, multi-cultural world of Oakland. The cynicism that comes from struggle made room for the hope that comes from cheating death. He truly knew who he was. He was confident about his place in the world because he understood it as much as any man can. And then his son Kyu was born. With Kyu’s entrance into the world, all the creative energy Negrito bottled for years came rushing. His musical choices were sharp and without doubt. He began recording without the hindrances that come with chasing trends. “Fuck what’s hot now, what moves me?” Negrito turned to the original DNA of all American music, the Blues. The beating life had given him primed him to channel his literal and musical forefathers: the Blues musicians of the Delta. For Fantastic Negrito, “derivative” is the devil so to ensure his sound is his own, every chord comes from a place of immediacy. Immediacy opens the door for instinct. Instinct is God’s tool that makes an artist into an individual. Negrito leaves the original sounds of Lead Belly and Skip Woods intact and builds bridges to modernity by looping and sampling his own live instruments. When you listen to Negrito, you’re invited to hear the story of life after destruction. Your dream can die. You probably will give up. But from there, you can start everything over. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.