Fantastic Negrito is a man’s truth told in the form of black roots music. Each song is a real story about a musician from Oakland who experienced the highs of a million dollar record deal, the lows of a near fatal car accident that left him in a coma, and is now in the phase of rebirth despite his playing hand being mangled.
After a long break from music, Fantastic Negrito won NPR's inaugural Tiny Desk Contest in 2015. Since then he's performed with artists including Sturgill Simpson, Solange, Chris Cornell and Temple of the Dog. His next album - the follow up to his 2017 Grammy-winning debut album The Last Days of Oakland - will be released in June 2018.
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Fantastic Negrito is a man’s truth told in the form of black roots music. Each song is a story about a musician from Oakland who experienced the highs of a million dollar record deal, the lows of a near fatal car accident that put him in a coma, and is now in the phase of rebirth despite his playing hand being mangled. Negrito’s music emphasizes rawness and space. Rather than update the Delta Blues, Fantastic Negrito leaves the original sounds of Lead Belly and Skip James intact, building bridges to a modern sound with loops and samples of his own live instruments. But the primary element that drives Fantastic Negrito’s music is uncut realness and zero concern for “pop” anything.