Fantastic Negrito: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

It says a lot that, with almost 7, 000 entries to choose from, we selected Fantastic Negrito as the winner of our Tiny Desk Concert Contest. For his winning submission, he performed Lost In A Crowd in a freight elevator in Oakland. It was his passion, his voice and his backing band that landed him an invitation to perform behind my desk. We re proud of our choice. As we learned after choosing him as our winner, Fantastic Negrito Xavier Dphrepaulezz, pronounced deeFREPahlez has a remarkable backstory. One of 15 children, he grew up in a strict home, and later signed a contract with Interscope Records in the 90s. That deal fell apart, though, and soured him on musicmaking. Then, a nearfatal car crash put him in a coma, and eventually left him without the proper use of his hands; he struggled with physical therapy for years to get some movement from what he now calls The These days, bolstered by a new outlook on life and music, he s reawaken