{"id":11684,"date":"2016-11-01T05:30:54","date_gmt":"2016-11-01T09:30:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=11684"},"modified":"2016-10-28T10:11:09","modified_gmt":"2016-10-28T14:11:09","slug":"fantastic-negrito-fantastic-reinvention","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2016\/11\/01\/fantastic-negrito-fantastic-reinvention\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantastic Negrito: Fantastic Reinvention"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"fantastic_negrito\"The story of Fantastic Negrito<\/b> is the stuff of Hollywood legends. But it has the distinction of being true: the man born Xavier Dphrepaulezz<\/b> taught himself to play a multitude of instruments, scored a record deal, made a good album that stiffed, had a car wreck and nearly died, worked his way back to health, reinvented himself musically, and got himself discovered all over again. With its blend of folk, blues, soul and punk attitude, his latest album, The Last Days of Oakland<\/i>, is one of 2016’s most intriguing releases.<\/p>\n

The Last Days of Oakland<\/i>‘s \u201cAbout a Bird\u201d has a soul and gospel feel, but its guitar solo is steeped in Chicago blues. The piano break on \u201cScary Woman\u201d leans in a jazz direction. \u201cWhat Do You Do\u201d is reminiscent of the field hollers that historian Alan Lomax<\/strong> documented in the 1940s. Fantastic Negrito’s music resists easy categorization, and that pleases him.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am most quoted as saying that genre is a good place to hide,\u201d he says. \u201cBiggie Smalls<\/strong> is just as amazing as Johnny Cash<\/strong>; Kendrick Lamar<\/strong> is just as amazing as Tchaikovsky<\/strong>. Creativity is creativity.\u201d He points out that he’s toured and played with artists as diverse as Talib Kweli<\/strong> and Chris Cornell<\/strong>. \u201cThe audience and people that come, they come if you\u2019re connecting with them,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

In 1996, simply calling himself Xavier, Dphrepaulezz recorded the album X Factor<\/i>. Its standout track, \u201cSaturday Song,\u201d received some airplay, but the record sold poorly. Looking back at that era, Fantastic Negrito says that he sees a different person than whom he is today. \u201cThat was me trying<\/i> to do something. Now I just do<\/i> it.\u201d<\/p>\n

One November night in 1999, Dphrepaulezz picked up a girl he saw on a street corner. \u201cI was living in that L.A. lifestyle,\u201d he recalls, \u201cpicking up women and partying.\u201d The next thing he knew, three weeks had passed. The car he was driving had been hit by another motorist, and he spent weeks in a coma. His hands were destroyed. His label dropped him. He never saw the girl again.<\/p>\n

But he spent years fighting his way back to music. In 2015, Dphrepaulezz entered a homemade music video into a contest. He and nearly 7000 other musicians vied for an appearance on Bob Boilen<\/strong>‘s popular and influential \u201cTiny Desk Concerts\u201d program on NPR. Billing himself for the first time as Fantastic Negrito, Dphrepaulezz won. The subsequent 15-minute performance gained him new recognition. Boilen was moved both by the musician’s back story and by his deeply soulful, expressive performance. Boilen devotes an entire chapter to Fantastic Negrito in his new book, Your Song Changed My Life<\/i>.<\/p>\n

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Fantastic Negrito’s current focus is on his North American tour, but he’s already thinking about his next album. \u201cI\u2019ve been writing quite a bit,\u201d he says. \u201cI had an idea: I really want to resolve a lot of things [about] my dad. I ran away at 12 and I never saw him again; he passed away when I was in foster care.\u201d He’s thinking about making an album that explores father-son relationships. \u201cMy dad was brutal,\u201d he says, \u201cjust like everyone else’s.\u201d<\/p>\n