Name: Fantastic Negrito
Locality: Oakland, California
Color: Copper: Real Metal. Rose colored.
The Story: Fantastic Negrito has been through it, and lived
to tell about it. Born to Orthodox-Muslim parents, he
started off in Massachusetts and then moved to Oakland at the age of 12. He
taught himself instruments, but also dabbled on the bad side of the streets before redirecting himself to music.
This turn brought him to a label deal with Interscope
Records. Under the label he put out music that he wasn’t specifically
proud of. His image wasn’t who he wanted to be,
and the record flopped. This was a breaking point for him in which he swore off
music. “In life things do what they are supposed to do. It’s a part of living,
so I don’t think that it did not work out. I wasn’t supposed to be known by the
world with that music,” he reflects of the difficult time.
In 2000 Negrito got into an automobile accident that almost
killed him. He needed physical therapy to regain the use of his legs and his
playing hand was literally crushed. After the dust settled and he had some
physical healing he returned to Oakland and lived the simple life.
Five years after his accident, he gave birth to a beautiful
son. This awoke his once slumbered musical gifts that had laid dormant for
quite sometime. Under the name Fantastic Negrito, he got to the pen and took to
the guitar.
Citing influences as Skip James, Robert Johnson, and Lead Belly,
he created his new sound based on black roots music. “It’s field music, gospel, soul music, picking cotton music. I
mean it was it’s all such a strong part of who we are.”
2014 brought to life his first self-titled EP. Songs like
“Night Has Turned to Day” and “A New Beginning” ruthlessly captured struggle,
pain, and rising again. When it came time in 2015 to showcase his talents to a
new audience in the NPR Tiny Desk Concert, he was hesitant, but his collective
goaded him to put out the video of “Lost In A Crowd” which later deemed him the
NPR Tiny Desk Concert Winner of 2015.
His song “An Honest Man” is the theme song to the first
season of Hand of God on Amazon
Prime. His recently released self-titled deluxe EP peaked at number 1 on
iTunes’ charts in the Blues section two weeks ago, and the singer is working on a
full length album.
This success isn’t really phasing him, because truth be
told, time grounded him. But he did learn that to be thankful was of utmost
importance. “I’m learning that it’s all success. Once you wake up and you’re
breathing and your limbs work, people love you, that’s success to me. I don’t
really measure myself or engage myself by the standards of others. Success is
gratitude. The truest meaning of living is to be grateful. Gratitude for what
you have.”
“There’s only one Fantastic Negrito in the world!” he
proclaims, and you can find him on iTunes, Facebook, or on
FantasticNegrito.com. You can buy the EP there, but if you can’t afford it,
Negrito has a more classic answer. “If you don’t want to pay for it, just email
me and I’ll give it to you.” He stops for a short pause. “I’m not tripping.”
Coloring Outside The Lines Because: Negrito’s tough. You can
hear the rise from the gutter in his voice. His voice “can be gritty but it can
be sweet,” and the arrangements get down into the depth of blues. His rasp,
captures. His band, captivates the sound of when real music mattered. You just
gotta love a rags to riches story, the second time around. A true survivor, he
came back to his long lost passion stronger and better than ever.
Negrito’s grit, grips you. He is never “not original,” and
isn’t planning on being so any time soon.
Think: piano and tambourine/harmonica music, New Orleans, rebirth, "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger," lemonade.
