4/5
Black Jesus.
Roots of blues and R&B have never been the same since Xavier Amin Dphrepauleez, better known as the one and only Fantastic Negrito, entered the scene and cleared the competition. 'The Last Day Of Oakland' like 'The Last Black Man In San Francisco' movie, bridge to bridge, was a Grammy certified contemporary classic that confirmed this Mr. Fantastic was a true Warrior. Stretching over the Bay of Golden State and reaching out to the whole world, dialling from Steph and Klay distance. The style was fit for a Prince for a man who gives us a new LP on the same day we're taken back to the purple one and The Revolution's 1985 show in Syracuse. The reign was ready for the throne. Especially as 2019's 'Please Don't Be Dead' and 2020's critical 'Have You Lost Your Mind Yet' scored him three consecutive Grammy's for the Best Contemporary Blues Album. Now two years later, we may live in a multiverse of madness where strange things happen. But one things for sure. With 'White Jesus, Black Problems' Negrito is about to make it a fantastic four like Reed Richards. Please believe. Lord knows.
99 problems. The world has more than that right now. From pandemics to an epidemic of negativity that is ripping through the world and beating us down like an Oscars slap. Hitting back with all the black and white responses to this and Hollywood trials in the court of public and social media opinion that fail to see the grey. The masses acting like the burning torch 'Simpsons' community every time Homer makes a mistake. But here's a silver lining for you. Fantastic Negrito is not one. He is the one. Bringing that good time music back, all whilst moving us to a protest march that sings for freedom and the Black Lives and love that still matters even if Twitter trends have turned to the new flavour or disorder of the month. 'White Jesus, Black Problems' in wild west type, slap bang in the middle of an album artwork of striking red in classic Hi-fi stereo, evokes the feeling of Jamie Foxx in 'Django Unchained'. And Negrito is off it when he opens with some 'Venomous Dogma'. "Locked down in this hole, oh, it be so lonely", he croons in chorus as he warns us, "Y'all better wake up/Life and death here don't take up/Demons of the mind, let's shake up/Conspiracy lies/The laziest minds kill most of their time/A preacher/Spittin' dark rhymes through speakers/Candy for liars and tweakers/Standing in line for Air Jordan sneakers/No hustle, no grind." The game is to be told, not to be sold. Not even to the 'Highest Bidder' who Negrito says, "Technology feeds the spiritually dead/Fantasies that live inside your head", making his message clear to this smartphone generation as he takes American capitalism, greed and the racism of socio-economic inequality to task. All for some real gold bars. All before 'They Go Low' and then move in unison to the lead single 'Nibbadip' and it's powerful and compelling video adding to the album art. "He said, "Please don't sell me" (Don't you sell me)/'Cause I'm in love with woman/Freedom's in her eyes," he sings on this spiritual. Fighting back against slavery and the systematic racism that still arrests today and breaking free.
'Oh Betty', the roots of this album are beautiful in all their blue. Even if the jarring 'You Don't Belong Here' interlude, reminds us of how real and raw racism still is in the US and beyond. Sounding like another antagonist filmed in Central Park questioning why an innocent man or woman is just taking a walk outside in what's supposed to be a free country. Treating the black man like a 'Man With No Name'. "Listen, please hear my story/My life was stolen/By the bad man/This is not the place for me/My life was stolen/From my homeland," he tells us in a hook that gets its grips into you. This world is so cold, 'You Better Have A Gun' with the heat of this number as everyone's could be up these days were we are looking over our shoulder with a mask on. Running shirtless in 'Trudoo', Xavier refuses to give in. Singing, "Someday, I hope you'll find me, I'm out here all alone/Wandering out in the darkness, sad from a broken heart/Feeling like a teenager, crumbling into parts/Stealthy, but not so graceful, stumbling in the dark", on a verse that is chapter like scripture. 'In My Head' will get further into your cerebellum and the chambers of the organ of where your real thought and feeling reside. Right as the 'Register Of The Free Negroes' interlude serves as an intro to the curtain calling 'Virginia Soil' that gets right back to the roots of this record. "Freedom will come/I know one day, I'm sure that freedom will come", he repeats with no refrain. Concluding a cinematic album and multimedia movie feature with a 'Lemonade' like music video for each track, that as a matter of fact makes more than lemons. This full film tells the full, true story of Dphrepauleez's seventh generation grandma, Grandma Gallamore and indentured servant living with Xavier's enslaved Grandfather Courage. And their defiance of racism. Refusing to be separated in the segregated 1750's as they lived in a common-law marriage. And to think we call music like this groundbreaking. It is. But in this music world, it would be nothing without these roots which were the seeds for so many to grow. Just look at the family tree. This visual album is visionary from a man as Fantastic as such. The man has a real problem now. And his name is Jesus. TIM DAVID HARVEY.
Playlist Picks: 'Nibbadip','Venomous Dogma', 'Highest Bidder'.
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