{"id":19745,"date":"2020-10-28T05:30:27","date_gmt":"2020-10-28T09:30:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/?p=19745"},"modified":"2020-09-24T08:45:01","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T12:45:01","slug":"chocolate-samurai-more-from-my-conversation-with-fantastic-negrito-part-two","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.musoscribe.com\/index.php\/2020\/10\/28\/chocolate-samurai-more-from-my-conversation-with-fantastic-negrito-part-two\/","title":{"rendered":"Chocolate Samurai: More from My Conversation with Fantastic Negrito (Part Two)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Continued from Part One<\/a> \u2026 <\/i><\/p>\n

\"\"Police violence and racial disparity have been in the news a whole lot more in recent times than they had been in a long time. Do you think things are actually getting worse or are people just starting to get fed up and it\u2019s starting to get reported on more?<\/b><\/p>\n

Well, I just think it’s an open wound and it’s just been there; we\u2019ve never dealt with it in America. We\u2019ve just thrown stuff at it, and black people aren\u2019t honest and white people aren\u2019t honest and people<\/i> aren\u2019t very honest. We living in a time now where no one can be fucking honest. So I think all that hurts the relationship. You can\u2019t have your relationship with anybody even your friends, if it’s always dishonest. So like I said before, we\u2019ve been sick for a very long time, and now it just reveals itself.<\/p>\n

Following on from that, I\u2019ve heard it suggested \u2013 and I personally very much want this to be true \u2013 we had an eight year period where we were at least making some modest steps in the right direction and that the last 3 \u00bd-4 years has been kind of the death throes of the last gasp of the people fighting against that. Do you think there’s anything to that, or am I being too pollyanna?<\/b><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t believe, it to be honest. I don\u2019t believe it. I didn\u2019t believe it, I don\u2019t think in eight years we did anything. We didn\u2019t do anything; what we did was have a show. And we\u2019re like, \u201cHey, here\u2019s our show; check out our show.\u201d I don\u2019t think there\u2019s been government for a while. The world government is now corporation and billionaires. They are all new government so I don\u2019t think they\u2019re like this, \u201cHey man, do you want a black president? Wouldn\u2019t that be cool?\u201d \u201cYeah!\u201d \u201cYou guys want a bigoted asshole?\u201d \u201cYeah!\u201d I don\u2019t think that anything has really changed. To say that we had a black president \u2026 I knew it was meaningless then and I knew I was a minority and people yelling at me but it doesn\u2019t mean anything. Black man, none of that means anything.<\/p>\n

What matters is: How do we want to keep our situation and our relationship with each other? What matters is, what are we going to do? Hey man, I\u2019m in West Oakland. I grew up in here; I\u2019m still here. I\u2019m in the studio here. West Oakland, it\u2019s the same. Whether it was Reagan, whether it was Obama, whether it was Bush, it was the same shit. So this is a much bigger problem.<\/p>\n

And the solution is: We got to be honest, man. We gotta stop screaming at each other and we\u2019ve got to communicate. And on a visceral level. And I think if we can do that, we at least have a chance. Hell, I\u2019ve been married 13 years, which kind of makes me an expert on relationships and how to get along with people who might think differently than you. You can\u2019t just put on the show, and that eight years was a show. People are going to get mad at me, and I get it. And people yell at me and I\u2019m used to it. But I just like the real shit, and that\u2019s how I approach my albums.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why I wrote a song called \u201cSearching for Captain Save a Hoe.\u201d I wanted to talk about the real shit. I\u2019ve got one of the most real MC\u2019s ever, you know, E-40. I want to talk about how we treat women when we\u2019re in this cycle of, \u201cWell, I can go around the world and fuck a bunch of women, and people will cheer me as a hero.\u201d But if a female member of the band wants to take on that action, we view her as a whore. And so I want to talk about that<\/i>.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t just want to talk about Black Lives Matter, or All Lives Matter, I want to talk about, \u201cWhat are we doing tangibly to have sustainable changes that we can work with every day?\u201d If you want to defund the police, get these kids to have skills. Simple, man. The kid who\u2019s an electrician, the kid who\u2019s a painter, the kid who\u2019s a farmer \u2026 that kid is not on the street, and doesn\u2019t have to deal with the cops. The cops won\u2019t need the money, they won\u2019t need the overtime. That\u2019s<\/i> what I want to talk about.<\/p>\n

That is a viable solution to a problem. It’s not a slogan; it’s not a show. I can\u2019t do that shit. And it makes me a hard pill to swallow. Makes my music not as easy to digest. Makes my following on social media a little bit smaller, because I\u2019m not playing games. And I\u2019m not going to do the dance. I feel like I\u2019m a contributor; I\u2019m a great asset because I\u2019m true to my feelings.<\/p>\n

With all that as a backdrop, do you remain optimistic? Are you hopeful?<\/b><\/p>\n

I\u2019m Mr. Optimistic! Listen, I went on the street at 45 years old and thought, \u201cWhy don\u2019t I start playing the guitar?\u201d And I started this thing called Fantastic Negrito. C\u2019mon, Bill. I\u2019m optimistic.<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t think about what my album will sound like, and I can\u2019t think about if I\u2019ll win Grammys, and I can\u2019t think about, \u201cNow my guitar is in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; this stuff feels great.\u201d Oh my god, yeah. For \u201cIn the Pines.\u201d I just got inducted for a year to have my guitar in the Hall of Fame. Accolades and stuff \u2026 you can\u2019t get caught up in that, you know. You\u2019ve got to go in there and write the song again and go get honest.<\/p>\n

People will say, \u201cIt sounds different; oh my god, it sounds different.\u201d Yeah<\/i>, it’s different.<\/p>\n

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