FANTASTIC NEGRITO SCORES SECOND CONSECUTIVE GRAMMY® AWARD WITH PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD
CRITICALLY ACCLAIMED 2018 LP HONORED AS “BEST CONTEMPORARY BLUES ALBUM”
WORLDWIDE LIVE DATES SCHEDULED THROUGH SUMMER
PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD: DELUXE VERSION AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE NOW
Fantastic Negrito is celebrating his second consecutive GRAMMY® Award triumph after his acclaimed 2018 album, PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD, received the “Best Contemporary Blues Album” trophy at last night’s ceremonies in Los Angeles. PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD: DELUXE VERSION, an expanded edition of the award-winning LP, is available now for streaming and download via Cooking Vinyl and Blackball Universe.
“It’s even sweeter the second time,” said Fantastic Negrito. “I feel like there’s a growing movement in roots music — people going back to the source — and it’s an honor to be a part of that.”
“It’s wonderful to see true creativity acknowledged,” says President of Cooking Vinyl America Howie Gabriel. “So happy for Xavier and the whole Blackball Universe team. This Grammy is much deserved.”
PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD undoubtedly ranked among last year’s most important releases, withNPR’s Bob Boilen presciently declaring, “[Fantastic Negrito] won a GRAMMY® for the ‘Best Contemporary Blues Album’ for 2016’s LAST DAYS OF OAKLAND. [PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD], with its intense fervor, should make that two years in a row.”The New York Times‘ Jon Pareles hailed the album as “a cranked-up, slow-grinding attack on addiction and consumerism,” while theAssociated Press wrote, “Negrito puts himself in the middle of the fray with PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD, and offers his songs for the soundtrack of the lives of those who won’t give up and are willing to carry on.” “Echoes of Zeppelin, The Black Keys, and Jack White are as prevalent as those of Leadbelly or Son House,” applauded Glide magazine. “And, like the jazz artists mentioned, urban aspects of hip-hop, rap, and spoken word filter through as does R&B” Perhaps Entertainment Weeklysaid it best: “When you’ve been a small-time drug hustler, experienced a brush with death, a false start as a major label artist, and life as a busker, you’re well-positioned to sing the blues – as Fantastic Negrito does on his incendiary, consciousness-raising new album.”
PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD is highlighted by the extraordinary singles, “Plastic Hamburgers” and “The Duffler,” the latter of which earned fulsome praise from Rolling Stone: “With its greasy guitar stomp and falsetto vocal delivery, ‘The Duffler’ fills the middle ground between modern protest music for the political rally and sweaty, sexed-up baby-making music for the bedroom.” Both tracks are accompanied by striking companion visuals, streaming now at Fantastic Negrito’s official YouTube channel HERE.
Last week saw the music video premiere of “A Boy Named Andrew” as well as an interview with Esquire about his “forays into fashion, the style icons who made him, and the pieces that still move him.”
WATCH “THE DUFFLER”
WATCH “PLASTIC HAMBURGERS”
WATCH “A BOY NAMED ANDREW“
What’s more, PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD: DELUXE VERSION features previously unreleased acoustic versions of five album highlights including “The Duffler” and the powerful “Dark Windows (Acoustic),” released as a single last September to coincide with the annual National Suicide Prevention Week.
In an interview with CBS News last summer, Negrito tells Anthony Mason, “I always look at my journey like it’s the American dream.” Negrito’s performances of “The Duffler,” “Plastic Hamburgers,” “A Cold November Street,” and “Dark Windows” are available to stream on CBS This Morning‘s official website and YouTube channel.
Long hailed for his electrifying live performances, Fantastic Negrito is currently in the midst of an epic world tour, with dates scheduled through the summer. Highlights include much-anticipated visits to South America, Australia, Europe, and the United Kingdom, as well as festival appearances at such upcoming gatherings as Clearwater, FL’s Clearwater Sea-Blues Festival (February 23rd) and Floyd, VA’s FloydFest 19 – Voyage Home (July 24th). Additional dates will be announced. For complete details, updates, and ticket information, please visit fantasticnegrito.com/pages/tour.
Fantastic Negrito has spent much of the past two years on the road, including sold out headline shows, stage-stealing festival performances, and a series on North American and European tours supporting his great fan, the late Chris Cornell, as well as Cornell’s legendary supergroup Temple of the Dog. 2018 highlights include major market headline shows (such as the PLEASE DON’T BE DEAD release event at San Francisco’s historic Fillmore), dates supporting Sturgill Simpson, sets at such festivals as Arroyo Seco Weekend, Newport Folk Festival, and AFROPUNK FEST, and a spectacular full band performance and interview on CBS This Morning: Saturday, streaming HERE.
