*Photo Credit: Willemwouterse.nl
Fantastic Negrito
Three Time Grammy Award Winner, Black Roots Music Artist; Singer, Song-writer
SPEAKER FEE RANGE: $40,000–$75,000 [FEE NOTE]
TRAVELS FROM: California
RELATED TOPICS: Celebrity, Experiential, Inspiring Personal Stories, Musician, Overcoming Adversity, Youth Advocacy
Fantastic Negrito is the story of a man who struggled to “make it”, who “got it”, who lost it all, and somehow managed to find his way back. When you listen to Negrito, you’re invited to hear the story of life after destruction. For anyone who ever felt like it was over yet hoped it wasn’t, this is your 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 midst of a rebirth that took him from the streets of Oakland to the world stage.
“I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors, both black and white, who showed me that anything is possible,” says Negrito. “There was a lot of ugliness in their story, but there was a lot of beauty, too, because in the end, they won. Love won.”
“I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors, both black and white, who showed me that anything is possible,” says Negrito. “There was a lot of ugliness in their story, but there was a lot of beauty, too, because in the end, they won. Love won.”
When you listen to Fantastic Negrito, you’re invited to hear the story of life after destruction. 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 for three weeks and robbed him of the movement in his hands, and is now in the midst of a rebirth that took him from the streets of Oakland to the world stage.
In fact, the name Fantastic Negrito represents his third rebirth, literally coming back from death this time. The narrative of this man is as important as the sound, because the narrative is the sound. Songs born from a long hard life channeled through black roots music. Slide guitar, drums, piano. Urgent, desperate, edgy.
Negrito burst onto the national radar by winning the inaugural NPR Tiny Desk contest in 2015, and has since won Grammys for all three of his albums: The Last Days of Oakland (2017), Please Don’t Be Dead (2019), and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (2021), which includes features from fellow Tiny Desk winner Tank (Tank and the Bangas) and Bay Area legend E-40. His latest singles are “Root City,” an anthem for the Oakland Roots Sports Club, and “Rolling Through California”, a rallying cry that calls for collective action in the wake of drought, accelerating climate change, and the growing calamity of California’s annual fire season.
Outside of music, Negrito puts his socially progressive lyrics into action. His Storefront Market, a monthly marketplace free of charge to the public, features vendors representing the community of West Oakland and surrounding neighborhoods. He also runs his own farm on his Oakland property called Revolution Plantation where he teaches the surrounding community to garden — an effort to pass on practices that can sustain local neighborhoods and our planet alike.
In fact, the name Fantastic Negrito represents his third rebirth, literally coming back from death this time. The narrative of this man is as important as the sound, because the narrative is the sound. Songs born from a long hard life channeled through black roots music. Slide guitar, drums, piano. Urgent, desperate, edgy.
Negrito burst onto the national radar by winning the inaugural NPR Tiny Desk contest in 2015, and has since won Grammys for all three of his albums: The Last Days of Oakland (2017), Please Don’t Be Dead (2019), and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (2021), which includes features from fellow Tiny Desk winner Tank (Tank and the Bangas) and Bay Area legend E-40. His latest singles are “Root City,” an anthem for the Oakland Roots Sports Club, and “Rolling Through California”, a rallying cry that calls for collective action in the wake of drought, accelerating climate change, and the growing calamity of California’s annual fire season.
Outside of music, Negrito puts his socially progressive lyrics into action. His Storefront Market, a monthly marketplace free of charge to the public, features vendors representing the community of West Oakland and surrounding neighborhoods. He also runs his own farm on his Oakland property called Revolution Plantation where he teaches the surrounding community to garden — an effort to pass on practices that can sustain local neighborhoods and our planet alike.
- Talk and Play with Fantastic Negrito
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