Beyond the Music with Laura: Fantastic Negrito at Bourbon & Beyond in Louisville, Kentucky
As defined by the artist himself, Fantastic Negrito is "a man’s truth told in the form of black roots music."
To leave it there would be only scratching the surface of who this artist is.
Born, Xavier Dphrepaulez, as one of 15 children, it would seem necessary to find your own unique identity. Which is exactly what Negrito did. When the family moved to Oakland, California when he was 12 years old, he found himself hustling and being the instigator of small-time crimes, be it stealing a house key of someone he befriended only to make a copy and return when the family was gone to steal from them or selling fake marijuana, his place in this world was waiting to be carved and not fully defined just yet.
There are several times throughout his life that he should not have made it out alive, the gangs, the drug-dealing, the hustle in general, not to mention the near-fatal car accident in 2010 that kept him in a coma, clinging to life for four weeks and leaving him with "the claw" as he refers to his playing hand, which was mangled afterwards.
Watch our interview to hear the passion Negrito has for music. Not genre, but music, and what it can teach us about people and about life. There can always be a different direction, a different choice and there is always hope in any situation.
This message could not come at a better time than on the heels of the horrific Las Vegas attack, how healing music is and how we can all come together as one, through love and hope.
I, admittedly, was not versed on all Negrito had been through and all that he has had to overcome to get to where he stands today when we did this interview. I am now, however, a fan of what he is bringing to the music industry, independently, and for the message in his songs and in his lifelong struggles and triumphs of rebirth.
Please check out this GRAMMY-winning artist and really read his story. It may take a couple of reads to let it sink in when you start to realize all that he has experienced but when it does, enlightenment into this amazing story may just have you adding him to your playlist, and remembering to be thankful for not just those material things in your life, but the journey that got you to where you are today and the adventure that awaits you in the future.
Hope. It only takes a little to change a life.
Make sure you follow Negrito at all the links below and catch him on tour now with Sturgill Simpson.
About Laura Lou
JournalistBeginning about age 13, music always been my “safe place”, my “escape”, it became a part of who I am. My background includes being a photographer/journalist for newspapers, magazines and radio stations and more recently I have been an artist manager. What I continue to strive to learn is, what is important to the fans/readers? I find that the answer is always that they want to feel close to the artist they are supporting. The human contact that we all need is something that I want to deliver to anyone that happens to read something I write or see a photograph I shoot. It is important to me to provide that experience, because I am, after all, still always a “fan” and that giddy 13-year-old girl is simply amazed! I never imagined that my passion and love for music would lead me where I am today! I use the hashtag #iamtheluckiestgirliknow because I cannot believe how blessed I am! I’m excited to see “what happens next” and take you all along with me! This is going to be amazing…
