Multi-artist and activist Fantastic Negrito (neé Xavier Dphrepaulezz) has announced his brand new album Grandfather Courage, a reimagined acoustic version of his 2022 album White Jesus Black Problems. He previously offered fans a preview of the collection’s new version of “Oh Betty”, in celebration of its GRAMMY nomination in the “Best American Roots Performance” category. Today, he has released another taste of the release with “Highest Bidder” (Reimagined Acoustic Version). “If you want to take your mind, body and soul on a trip check out the reimagined recording of Highest Bidder through the lenses of my touring band. At the time, I was listening to a lot of African drum patterns, and that definitely influenced this song. I’m trying to convey what I see when I walk down the street here in Oakland.”

The multimedia project tells the defiant tale of his seventh generation white Scottish indentured servant grandmother Betty Gallimore who was living in a common law marriage with his seventh generation African-American enslaved grandfather, Grandfather Courage, in the face of the racist, separatist, laws of 1750s colonial Virginia. Fantastic Negrito shares, “The incredible story of my seventh generation grandparents was so profound. I reimagined it through the lenses of my touring band. Please check it out unplugged unapologetic reimagined.”

Fantastic Negrito’s own story is stranger than fiction. He first released an album in 1996, but a near fatal car crash in 1999 effectively ended the first chapter of his career. It resulted in him spending three weeks in a coma and initially losing almost all movement in his right hand, drastically limiting his ability to play guitar. Effectively reborn under his new artist identity of Fantastic Negrito, his career got underway when he won NPR Music’s Tiny Desk Concert Contest.

The artist has toured with artists as varied as Sturgill Simpson and Chris Cornell, collaborated with Sting and E-40, launched his own Storefront Records label, and founded the Revolution Plantation, an urban farm aimed at youth education and empowerment. He is also confirmed for several film screenings w/ performances and to play a show in Italy in March 2023 as guest to Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.

Fantastic Negrito
2023 Tour Dates

SUN, FEB 5
CELTIC CONNECTIONS
GLASGOW, UNITED KINGDOM

MON, FEB 6
DEAF INSTITUTE
MANCHESTER, UNITED KINGDOM

TUE, FEB 7
THE LOWER THIRD
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM

THU, FEB 9
BABYLON
BERLIN, GERMANY

SAT, FEB 11
CAFE DE LA DANSE
PARIS, FRANCE

MON, FEB 13
LANTARENVENSTER
ROTTERDAM, NETHERLANDS

WED, FEB 15
CINEMA MASSIMO
TORINO, ITALY

THU, FEB 16
IL GARIBALDI / MILLEVENTI
PRATO, ITALY

FRI, FEB 17
TEATRO BOLIVAR
NAPOLI, ITALY

SAT, FEB 18
TEATRO KISMET OPERA
BARI, ITALY

SUN, FEB 19
TEATRO VERDI
CESENA, ITALY

THU, MAY 18
SUPPORTING BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN
FERRARA, ITALY

JUN. 1 – 3, 2023
RED ROOSTER 2023

Pre-order Grandfather Courage by Fantastic Negrito HERE