{"id":22721,"date":"2016-08-30T11:31:51","date_gmt":"2016-08-30T10:31:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/?p=22721"},"modified":"2019-04-25T13:24:46","modified_gmt":"2019-04-25T12:24:46","slug":"saint-or-singer-fantastic-negritos-long-road-to-redemption","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/essentiallypop.com\/epop\/2016\/08\/saint-or-singer-fantastic-negritos-long-road-to-redemption\/","title":{"rendered":"SAINT OR SINGER? – Fantastic Negrito’s ‘Long Road’ To Redemption"},"content":{"rendered":"

From street hustler to pseudo student, illegal nightclub impresario to black roots troubadour – Fantastic Negrito is the ultimate performance artist.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Since leaving home at 12, it could be said his whole life has been a performance\u00a0of defiance, reinvention\u00a0and now perhaps redemption.<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Fantastic Negrito is the latest in a long line of personae, nom de plumes, pen names and AKA’s for Oakland, California musician\u00a0Xavier\u00a0Dphrepaulezz<\/strong> (pron X-avier Dee-frep-ah-lez).<\/p>\n

He’s had more knock-downs than a punch-drunk heavyweight, but the man who had to steal to eat after a troubled youth in foster care, just keeps on rising from the canvas.<\/p>\n

After a lengthy break from music, following a near-fatal car crash that mangled his strumming hand,\u00a0the artist formerly known as Blood Sugar X<\/strong> and\u00a0Chocolate Butterly\u00a0<\/strong>is riding high on the success of The\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Last Days of Oakland<\/strong><\/em>, released through his artists’ collective\u00a0Blackball Universe<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Speaking\u00a0<\/strong>during a break from rehearsals for his European tour, Xavier tells\u00a0Matt Catchpole<\/strong> about finding music through Prince<\/strong>, the state of the union and his unlikely friendship with Bernie Sanders<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\"One
One of Xavier’s alter egos Chocolate Butterfly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

How did you first get interested in music?<\/strong><\/p>\n

As a teenager, I was into a lot of trouble and I thought I should find something better to do rather than run the streets. \u00a0I came from a family of 14 kids, so I was naturally an exhibitionist and once – way back there was contest, like a dance contest \u2013 and I think we did a Prince routine, or something, it went down great and I liked the feeling of being up there. So I caught the fever then and I thought: Wow! I need to learn to play an instrument. So then I looked up how Prince did it, \u2018cos he was quite popular back then, and that began my journey of learning how to play and being self-taught.<\/p>\n

Did Prince remain an inspiration?<\/strong><\/p>\n

He was a big influence, no doubt. Especially early on. Not like musical style, but I just loved his courage early on his career.<\/p>\n

Is<\/b> it true you gatecrashed music school by pretending to be a student?<\/strong><\/p>\n

UC Berkeley is right in the town that I was in. I would sneak into the music rooms and pretend that I was a student and see what other students were doing and I discovered that they were practising scales. So I would just figure out scales, sitting in those lonely practice rooms.<\/p>\n

Did anyone ever challenge you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No actually they didn\u2019t, I had sideburns, I was about 17 and I think I kind\u2019ve looked the part.<\/p>\n

\"Xavier
Xavier also fronted punk-funk combo Blood Sugar X<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You\u2019ve moved from the funk of your earlier career to a more Blues-based sound \u2013 is that something you plan to stick with, or will there be further reinventions down the road?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well, you know, I don\u2019t even think about genres or styles, I just cut it, trying to think about good songs. When I was writing The Last Days of Oakland<\/strong><\/em>. It was all about whether I had songs. When I started, the whole Fantastic Negrito trip, three years ago I thought, this is about songs, I\u2019m going to go out into the streets and I\u2019m going to play my songs \u2013 especially in places where people don\u2019t want to hear them, like train stations \u2013 people getting off work, you know, they don\u2019t give a shit, they\u2019re just trying to get home. This project was about connecting with people \u2013 kind of in my middle of age I need to do that, it’s kind of therapeutic. So I don\u2019t even know if The Last Days of Oakland<\/em> is really a Blues record. I call it Black Roots \u2013 that\u2019s easier for me, because it\u2019s such a beautiful garden, you know, Black Roots. It could be Delta Blues, it could be soul music, it could be rock\u2019n\u2019roll, it could be stuff the UK did and gave back to us, it could be anything! So I don\u2019t even like the word genre. I like artists, I think artists surpass genres.<\/p>\n

Are Xavier and Fantastic Negrito one and the same, or do you change when you go on stage as Negrito?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fantastic Negrito is the artist and maybe Xavier is the human being. My Mom won\u2019t call me Fantastic Negrito so that keeps me very well grounded.<\/p>\n

Why did you call the album The Last Days of Oakland<\/em>?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shit, after that title, you better mean something right? I was travelling quite a bit and I thought in the United States we are really at a crossing point here, things have changed. I thought of the cities \u2013 I was in New Orleans and the black population\u2019s gone, artists\u2019 populations were dwindling. I thought, man, even if you were from these cities, you may grow up not being able to afford to live there anymore. It came a lot from just observation. And I don\u2019t know if it\u2019s really as morbid as some people think. This is just what happens \u2013 we go through phases –\u00a0 and we change. The Oakland that I grew up in is gone.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve talked about your earlier life\u00a0as a small time thief and drug dealer \u2013 did you ever feel any kind of guilt about\u00a0the people you stole from?<\/strong><\/p>\n

No. I was surviving. I was about 12-years-old, you know, it was my method of surviving. I think I stole quite a bit just to eat.<\/p>\n

\u00a0If you could speak to your teenage self now what would you tell him?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Oh my God! \u00a0I would say: Man, this period and all these things that you\u2019re going through, they\u2019re gonna pass. They\u2019re all just moments and they\u2019re gonna pass – 17 will pass, 21 will pass, 30, it all passes \u2013 it\u2019s just a moment. But also save that vinyl! it\u2019s going to be worth something! And invest in Apple!<\/p>\n

\"920x920\"<\/p>\n

You had a serious car crash in 2000 which mangled your strumming hand \u2013 did you have to teach yourself a new style of playing?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I never was a great guitarist anyway, But I think as my hand became more mangled and deformed \u00a0I became a better musician and creator overall. I wrote a lot of The Last Days of Oakland<\/em> on guitar. When you have an injury like this there\u2019s only a few things you can do. And one is just play the shit out of it!\u00a0 I\u2019m going hard on the plate bro. I\u2019m doing it all the way!<\/p>\n

Has it affected your songwriting?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Well of course, because you have less to work with \u2013 you can\u2019t be that fancy. I only got a few tricks with this beat up hand. But as long as you\u2019ve got a heart and a soul \u2013 that\u2019s really where everything comes from anyway.<\/p>\n

Explain the concept behind your artists’ collective Blackball Universe \u2013 do you think black artists still have to work harder to make it in the US?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Blackball Universe is for outcasts, it\u2019s not exclusively for black people. We have all kinds of people. I just call it Blackball Universe because it\u2019s like, if you\u2019ve been blackballed \u2013 come to me! It has nothing to do with race. But I do think in America if you\u2019re black, shit, you\u2019ve got to do everything harder. That\u2019s the first thing that my (strict Muslim) Dad taught me. That\u2019s just the way it is. I never cried about it, I just worked hard, Things are the way they are and you\u2019ve got to get up and do it. But thank God I had the family to teach me that. Not everybody has\u00a0that, so I don\u2019t look down on people who\u00a0are struggling.<\/p>\n

The US seems to be in a heightened state of racial tension just now \u2013 what with police shootings of black men and retaliatory attacks in Texas and Baton Rouge. Do you think there\u2019s a\u00a0risk of a race war in America?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nah, I don\u2019t think there\u2019s really a risk of race war. You know, we have some serious things to talk about \u2013 we are very far apart on the idea of race \u2013 we need some empathy and a lot of love. But I can\u2019t imagine a race war. It woulda happened already. My feeling is that ideologically there\u2019s a race war, right now, sure. I think it\u2019s with people who don\u2019t have open minds on both sides. But I\u2019m not an absolutist \u2013 if that\u2019s a word \u2013 I just think that if you wanna get some, you gotta give some. If you wanna get along with people, man, you better listen to them. And that\u2019s on BOTH sides.<\/p>\n

How did you get involved with Bernie Sanders?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think he liked my message and I liked his and it was a good fit. I don\u2019t feel that political at all. I just like the real thing, I like the truth and he\u2019s very kind and generous and loving. It was a good message. I don\u2019t think politicians can save anybody, but a good message is better than a bad message. I never thought any politician could save me though.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Xavier
Xavier with Bernie Sanders<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Do you think he was right to clear the field for Hillary Clinton \u2013 what do you make of her?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think much of her at all, but the other side is the worst that America has to offer in Donald Trump \u2013 he\u2019s the worst. So what\u2019re you gonna do? This is the system isn\u2019t it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

How would you feel about the prospect of living in America under president Trump?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ugh! It sounds disgusting, but we\u2019ll get through it, man. We survived Ronald Reagan. I tend to look at it as a whole. We survived (Bill) Clinton, we survived Bush. All these people have been bought and paid for. We\u2019re an empire. The UK knows about that \u2013 you were an empire once right? Empires do what they do and politicians do as they do and Trump is just the worst. Obama was an idea that hey, this could be the best, in terms of just being a good person, but he was never\u00a0going to do anything differently. I think Bernie Sanders is the best though, but he\u2019s still not going to anything. People have the power. Politicians cannot save you. They can make you feel better, but it’s up to us. It\u2019s like marbles in a jar, you know, all of them matter. But music is my platform and instruments are my weapon and The Last Days of Oakland<\/em> is my challenge and my contribution to this world we\u2019re living in with its racial tensions and its religious tensions and marital tensions (bursts out laughing). And all the fucking tensions! I just think as an artist, you know, you\u2019ve gotta contribute something and that\u2019s my contribution. I wanna be part of this great human tribe that we have. We\u2019re not perfect, we make a lot mistakes, but we\u2019re a resilient bunch. I mean Hitler bombed the shit out of you guys, right?<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve been described as the Patron Saint of Second Chances \u2013 is that a fitting title for you?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Probably of third chances! (chuckles) I do think that there\u2019s a lot of truth to that, I mean I may be the poster child for like, hey you get knocked down, get yourself up, get knocked down again, you get back up, you get knocked down again, hey what you gonna do, you get back up. You keep getting up!<\/p>\n

\u00a0\"LG3A1581Fantastic<\/strong><\/p>\n

How the rehearsals going are you feeling good about the tour?<\/strong><\/p>\n

I\u2019m feeling great, I like my chances. I love the UK, I love Europe, wonderful audiences. I think the UK is just a really intelligent audience \u2013 the States are too, but just a different level. You guys take the music much more seriously. I think we take it for granted because it\u2019s just here, but you guys really study it and you know it better than us sometimes.<\/p>\n