Fantastic Negrito is an unapologetic powerhouse whose sounds force you to dance with abandon. His band combines raw content with immaculate execution, both rhythmic and melodious.

Xavier Dphrepaulezz hustled his way up from Massachusetts runaway to lauded Grammy winner. Before his Fantastic Negrito persona took hold at age 45, he coasted through a life of foster families, petty crime, an unsuccessful R&B career, a crippling car crash, illegal nightclubs and fatherhood, just to name a few. When he became Fantastic Negrito his career took off, clutching his audiences by the spirit with a psychedelic mix of neo-soul, blues and rock. His lyrics speak to the anger in people, urging them to feel, to speak up, and to bring positivity to the world.

His first album, The Last Days of Oakland, won him a Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album. Now he presents his second album, Please Don’t Be Dead. Blues, soul and funk ring through in experimental songs, uptempo anthems and bright ballads. Dphrepaulezz meant the title for his son, referencing his worry of him living in an America where there is a war on black youth.

‘I make my music for my children,’ he says, ‘If something ever happens to me, [it would] be some kind of blueprint, a statement, a philosophy that I could leave to help them navigate through this insanity. We’re living through this age of fear, where everything’s like this weird witch hunt and people are so entrenched in their ideologies’.

His songs face his sense of danger with a head-on defiance, insisting to party, dance, and create.