Multi-Grammy Award-winning artist, Fantastic Negrito, is premiering his latest single and accompanying music video for the song “Highest Bidder” (Reimagined Acoustic Version) with American Songwriter.
Videos by American Songwriter
“If you want to take your mind, body, and soul on a trip check out the reimagined recording of ‘Highest Bidder’ through the lenses of my touring band,” said the artist of the new acoustic track. “At the time, I was listening to a lot of African drum patterns, and that definitely influenced this song. I’m trying to convey what I see when I walk down the street here in Oakland.”
“Highest Bidder” is featured on Fantastic Negrito’s (born Xavier Dphrepaulezz) upcoming album, Grandfather Courage, due out on February 3. That LP will also be a reimagined acoustic version of his acclaimed 2022 album, White Jesus Black Problems.
Fans can pre-order the reimagined album, HERE.
Fantastic Negrito’s 2022 album, White Jesus Black Problems, was rooted in the story of his ancestors. Part love story, part history lesson, the project tells the tale of his seventh-generation white Scottish indentured servant grandmother, Betty Gallimore, who was living in a common law marriage with his seventh-generation African-American enslaved grandfather, Grandfather Courage, in the face of the racist, separatist, laws of 1750s colonial Virginia.
“The incredible story of my seventh-generation grandparents was so profound,” said the artist of the album and the history from which it’s born. “I reimagined it through the lenses of my touring band. Please check it out unplugged unapologetic reimagined.”
American Songwriter spoke with the 54-year-old artist about White Jesus Black Problems earlier this year (See the story HERE). “For the first time in my life, I understood who I was,” he told American Songwriter at the time.
Fantastic Negrito has had quite a career as a musician, especially as of late. All three of his previous LPs have earned the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album: The Last Days of Oakland, Please Don’t Be Dead, and Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
Check out “Highest Bidder (Reimagined Acoustic Version)” below, along with the song’s new music video.
Photo by Travis Shinn / Charm School Media
