FANTASTIC NEGRITO Addresses Current Events in New Tracks

When FANTASTIC NEGRITO released his Grammy award-winning album The Last Days of Oakland in 2016, it received critical acclaim for its honest look at racism, gun violence, wage slavery, and other challenges facing our country. That continues with the re-release of the album on September 1, 2017 via Cooking Vinyl, which features two new tracks, "Push Back" and "The Shadows", which anticipated the events of today.

Almost prophetic in its subject matter, both "Push Back" and "The Shadows" reveal the soul of an artist trying to make sense of the political world around him that affects not only the governments but the fate of families, especially for people of color. Tackling the results and lack of progress from the current Administration head on in "The Shadows" ("I got trouble on my mind / I've been reading the headlines / That man that said "you're fired" / Brought the Devil out of retirement") and the Border Wall and immigration in "Push Back" ("They're trying to build a wall / But that won't help at all"), these two tracks are a direct response to the current state we as a country are in.

"Being African American in this country is f****** brutal," he explains. "It's painful and we, as individuals, have a way to combat that. And Fantastic Negrito for me is a way to combat that."

In addition, Fantastic Negrito will be supporting Sturgill Simpson on his Fall U.S. tour.
TOUR DATES
Supporting Sturgill Simpson

SEP 07 Smart Financial Centre / Sugarland, TX
SEP 08 Verizon Theatre / Grand Prairie, TX
SEP 09 AUSTIN360 Amphitheatre / De Valle, TX
SEP 14 Radio City Music Hall / New York, NY
SEP 15 Merriweather Post Pavilion / Columbia, MD
SEP 16 Blue Hills Bank Pavilion / Boston, MA
SEP 19 Fox Theatre / Detroit, MI
SEP 21 Fox Theatre / St. Louis, MO
SEP 22 Huntington Bank Pavilion / Chicago, IL
SEP 25 Red Rocks Amphitheatre / Morrison, CO
SEP 28 Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall / Portland, OR
SEP 29 Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall / Portland, OR
SEP 30 Marymoor Amphitheater / Redmond, WA
OCT 06 The Greek Theatre / Los Angeles, CA

Fantastic Negrito's The Last Days of Oakland took home the 2017 Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy Award. While blues is an integral part of Fantastic Negrito's overall foundation, his music defies genre, blending hip hop, rock, and other styles to create a sound that led Pitchfork's Greil Marcus to say "he could be inventing the blues for the first time."

He made his national television debut as Fantastic Negrito on the season finale of Fox's Empire, performing both his single "Lost in a Crowd"-the track that brought him to national attention, winning NPR's inaugural Tiny Desk Concert Contest-and the hit song "Good Enough" alongside "Empire's" Jamal Lyon.

Photo Credit: Max Claus

To post a comment, you must register and login.