Best of the Bay 2025 Editors' Pick: Fantastic Negrito - 48 hills

"Three-time Grammy winner Fantastic Negrito excavates his life story and owns its truth on his 2024 album, Son of a Broken Man. Born Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, the singer-songwriter became a distinguished music producer in 2023 by launching his Storefront Records label, remarkably ushering in a new era in his work. Having achieved instant notice as winner of the first-ever NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2015, he stacked up awards, recorded acclaimed albums, and performed around the world,"

"often sharing stages or collaborating with the likes of Sturgill Simpson, Chris Cornell, Bruce Springsteen, Sting, E-40, and Tank, among others. After so much success, Broken Man 's soulful, wrenching, exquisitely expressive and impeccably performed 14-tracks could easily have retread area covered by prior hits. Instead, the new album braves Fantastic Negrito's family history and lays bare wounds that were cut so deep they are only now, decades later, healing and establishing scars."

"The trauma began even before the artist's father kicked him out of the family home at age 12. His pain was intensified by living without love while bouncing through three foster homes before landing on the street, along. Misguidedly, he decided for a time to pursue a life of anger, resentment, isolation, and self-inflicted harm. Eventually, questions arose about his Bahamian father, a man he never truly knew other than assorted bizarre facts-that he had a fake Somali accent, a made-up last name,"

Fantastic Negrito excavates personal history on Son of a Broken Man, a 14-track 2024 album that confronts long-buried wounds. Born Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, he launched Storefront Records in 2023 and expanded his role as a music producer. He first gained notice by winning the NPR Tiny Desk Contest in 2015 and later recorded acclaimed albums and toured globally. The new album avoids retreading past hits and instead probes family history, foster care, homelessness, and self-destructive years. The record reveals confusion over a Bahamian father's false identity and negligent behavior, and channels trauma into soulful, wrenching performances.

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