Fantastic Negrito a great, renowned musician – but also, he is a storyteller, a survivor, an artist who has used music to rise above pain, failure and near-death. As Fantastic Negrito is visiting Athens, Greece in July 2025, Myth of Rock goes back and examines the career of this brilliant craftsman!
by Dimitris Zacharopoulos
Fantastic Negrito’s real name is Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, and he was born on January 20, 1968, in Western Massachusetts, USA. Over the years, he has become one of the most important voices in modern blues, mixing styles like R&B, rock, soul, and roots music to tell stories that are personal and political, but always powerful.
Xavier was the eighth of fifteen children in a strict Muslim household. His father, originally from the Bahamas but claiming to be a Somali Muslim, was very controlling and had many rules. Life was hard, especially when the family moved to Oakland, California, when Xavier was twelve years old. At the time, Oakland was dealing with the crack cocaine epidemic, and like many teenagers around him, Xavier began selling drugs and getting into trouble. He later said, “We all carried pistols. It was a dangerous time”.
But something changed when he heard Prince’s album “Dirty Mind”. He learned that Prince was self-taught — he played everything himself. That inspired Xavier to teach himself music too. He didn’t go to music school. Instead, he sneaked into classrooms at the University of California, Berkeley, to learn how to play instruments. It was a bold move, but it worked.
In the early 1990s, Xavier signed a deal with Interscope Records, one of the biggest record labels in the world. In 1996, under the name Xavier, he released his first album, “The X Factor”. But the music didn’t sell well, and the label didn’t give him much support. Then, tragedy struck.
In 1999, Xavier was in a terrible car accident. He stayed in a coma for three weeks, and the crash left his hand permanently damaged. He could no longer play guitar the same way. At the same time, Interscope dropped him from the label. His dream of stardom was shattered.
Instead of returning to the spotlight, he disappeared. He ran an illegal nightclub in South Central Los Angeles, trying to stay out of the public eye. He got married, had a son, and in 2007, he quit music completely. For years, it seemed like Xavier Dphrepaulezz was just another artist who never got his chance.
But in 2014, something inside him came back to life. He decided to return to music with a new name, a new sound and a new purpose. He called himself Fantastic Negrito — a bold, strange, and unforgettable name. With it, he created what he calls “black roots music for everyone” and released a self-titled album under that name in 2014. It was a mix of blues, gospel, funk, and storytelling. And this time, people listened.
In 2015, he entered the very first NPR Tiny Desk Contest — a competition for unsigned musicians. Out of thousands of entries, he won. The victory brought him national attention and a second chance at success.
His sophomore full album as Fantastic Negrito was “The Last Days of Oakland” (2016). It was a loud, passionate album full of songs about poverty, race, injustice and survival. The album won him his first Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album in 2017.
In 2018, he followed up with “Please Don’t Be Dead”, which won another Grammy. It was darker, angrier, but also more hopeful. The cover showed him lying in a hospital bed, referencing his car accident. It was personal and honest — just like his music.
His third Grammy-winning album, “Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?” (2020), explored mental health, social pressure and the feeling of being overwhelmed in a chaotic world. The music was wild, funky and full of energy.
Then came “White Jesus Black Problems” (2022) — a concept album about his own family history. He discovered that his white Scottish grandmother had a relationship with an enslaved Black man in the 1700s. The album mixed genres and time periods in creative ways. In 2023, he released an acoustic version of the album called “Grandfather Courage”.
In October 2024, Fantastic Negrito released his latest album, “Son of a Broken Man”, on his own label, Storefront Records. This album was deeply personal, focusing on his complicated relationship with his father, as well as the universal struggle between who we are and who we pretend to be. The music ranged from hard, guitar-heavy blues to soft, emotional ballads. It’s one of his most powerful works to date. Negrito said that this album was about “family, lies, truth, and the long battle between father and son”. Many fans and critics agree: “Son of a Broken Man” is a big step forward for an artist who never stops evolving.
Fantastic Negrito is also known for his incredible live performances. He has played at some of the world’s biggest festivals, including Glastonbury, Lollapalooza, Newport Folk Festival and WOMAD. He has shared the stage with legends like Chris Cornell, Sturgill Simpson, and Bruce Springsteen, and worked in the studio with artists like Sting, E-40, and Tank and the Bangas.
He also started the Revolution Plantation, an urban farm in Oakland where young people learn about food, health, music, and life. It’s his way of giving back to the community that shaped him.
This summer, on July 22, 2025, Fantastic Negrito will perform live at the Dora Stratou Theatre in Athens, Greece. It will be a celebration of his 10-year anniversary since winning the Tiny Desk Contest and changing his life forever. Greek fans will have the chance to experience his electric energy, passionate voice and soul-shaking blues under the summer sky. We will celebrate a man who turned his wounds into wisdom and his scars into songs. That man is Fantastic Negrito.
