Born as Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, At this point, much has been said about Negrito's unique story.: his early years growing up in an orthodox Muslim home, the failed contract with a major record company that separated him from the music industry completely, the near-fatal car accident that permanently damaged his guitar-playing hand, as well as the remarkable arc of redemption that began in 2015, when he won the first NPR Tiny Desk contest. In the following years, Negrito would take home three consecutive GRAMMY Awards for Best Contemporary Blues Album, would tour with artists like Sturgill Simpson, Chris Cornell y Bruce Springsteen, He would collaborate in the studio with figures such as Sting and E-40, would launch his own record label, Storefront Records, I would perform at Lollapalooza, Glastonbury, Newport Folk, Bryon Bay Blues, WOMAD and almost all the important festivals on the map, and would found Revolution Plantation, an urban farm aimed at education and youth empowerment.
With his second album, “The Last Days Of Oakland”, Grammy winner for best contemporary blues album 2016, the American Fantastic Negrito (real name, Xavier Dphrepaulezz) entered the black music circuit with force. “Blues with a punk attitude”, defines itself. And it is. One of the rawest musical collections (sonically and emotionally) published that year, full of a life perspective earned through hard knocks. Urgent and visceral, with rage, protest and autobiography. After spending years in pain therapies, for a car accident that 1999 he kept him in a coma for three weeks, shows the scars that only survivors have. A fighter who managed to win in 2015 the Tiny Desk Contest organized by NPR (American public radio), a contest whose objective is to discover unknown talents without a record contract; the station chose him as the winner among almost seven thousand applicants. To participate, he sent a video with him and his group performing their song “Lost In A Crowd” in an Oakland freight elevator.. “It was his passion, his voice and his band what convinced us. “We are proud of our choice”, reported NPR. As subtle and sophisticated as he is willing to put his slide into fifth gear, This son of a family of fifteen children from the Californian Bay Area came to sign in the 90 an Interscope Records distribution deal, but that story ended in a mess and only left a forgotten debut album, “The X Factor” (1996).
After the reissue in 2017 from “The Last Days Of Oakland” with two new songs, “Push Back” y “The Shadows”, in June 2018 their third LP arrived, “Please Don’t Be Dead”, composed with desperation and urgency around the fears that assail him due to the current sociopolitical context. A job that earned him his second consecutive Grammy, also in the category of best contemporary blues album. And in August 2020 their fourth LP came out, “Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?”, of which he published three advance singles (“Chocolate Samurai”, “How Long?” y “Searching For Captain Save A Hoe”) and with which he won again at the Grammys in the category of best contemporary blues album. In June 2022 released a new LP, “White Jesus Black Problems”, in which he moves away from the conventions of blues-rock and in which in February 2023 released a sequel, “Grandfather Courage”, where he reimagines the songs of his predecessor in acoustic key.
