Fantastic Negrito

I write songs. I perform. I play the guitar. I play the keyboard.

— Fantastic Negrito

Just keep being yourself. Keep being yourself, and people recognize it.

— Fantastic Negrito

Blues purists may hate what I do sometimes because it's a little dirtier.

— Fantastic Negrito

The one thing I had pure in my life was creativity.

— Fantastic Negrito

I think I was made for live music. It's just great.

— Fantastic Negrito

The streets spoke to me in a way that religion didn't.

— Fantastic Negrito

I like going out and looking at people, and they inspire me so much.

— Fantastic Negrito

My dad was a strict Muslim. He had a lot of rules.

— Fantastic Negrito

That makes me very happy as a human being to know what I'm doing is an inspiration to people.

— Fantastic Negrito

My most revered hero is Robert Johnson. His lyrics are so consistent with rap: the danger, the boldness, the creativity.

— Fantastic Negrito

'In the Pines' is a very old song dating back to slavery. Lead Belly made it popular.

— Fantastic Negrito

I always call myself a recovering narcissist. I lived my life thinking everything was about me.

— Fantastic Negrito

I'm in a collective with the same guys I met on the streets at 12. The greatest investments I ever made were…

— Fantastic Negrito

'The Duffler' is a very familiar story, a story about someone having something and not appreciating it until it's gone, when it's…

— Fantastic Negrito

I just take things one day at a time. I'm just thankful that I have my legs, my arms, my eyes.

— Fantastic Negrito

When I was born, my mother said all the nurses wanted to come see the colored baby.

— Fantastic Negrito

'Fantastic' is self-explanatory, you know? And the 'Negrito' is a way to open up blackness to everyone - you know, make it…

— Fantastic Negrito

I heard Skip James, and it pierced me. It felt like punk rock to me, real and raw. It was just one…

— Fantastic Negrito

The idea of 'raw' music, to me, is honesty: getting people to feel you with the least amount of production possible, the…

— Fantastic Negrito

I wanted to do life, do something interesting. I ran out of things I wanted to say in my music, so I…

— Fantastic Negrito

When I look into the audience, and I just know we understand each other, I can see their faces, and they know…

— Fantastic Negrito

Jimmy Iovine signed me personally to a million-dollar contract, and I lost my identity for a long time. That system is so…

— Fantastic Negrito

I don't mind being the voice of the New Oakland to maintain the integrity and edge of it. Old Oakland and New…

— Fantastic Negrito

I could have worked with great people like Nile Rodgers, which I regret. I don't have many regrets, but I remember he'd…

— Fantastic Negrito

I usually go to secondhand stores and find what I can. I like finding interesting things: vests, blazers. I tell the band,…

— Fantastic Negrito

I like being photographed without glasses. I don't want to be pretentious.

— Fantastic Negrito

NPR changed my life; I don't even front.

— Fantastic Negrito

I try to be as positive a person as possible.

— Fantastic Negrito

I want to make other people around me smarter and more powerful.

— Fantastic Negrito

Music is something that's so powerful and means so much to me.

— Fantastic Negrito

If I can't be honest with music, forget it.

— Fantastic Negrito

We gotta bring new ideas to the table and empower each other.

— Fantastic Negrito

Without busking, there is no Fantastic Negrito.

— Fantastic Negrito

I really loved the hardcore alternative vibe Prince had on 'Dirty Mind.'

— Fantastic Negrito

I hitchhiked to L.A. with $100 and a keyboard.

— Fantastic Negrito

Usually when tragedy is present, a great art movement is right behind it.

— Fantastic Negrito

Everybody agreed I had all this talent, but I didn't know what to make of it.

— Fantastic Negrito

Fantastic Negrito is a persona, an incarnation in my third phase.

— Fantastic Negrito

I want to be an artist, not be in the business of making hit records. Once I figured that out, everything became…

— Fantastic Negrito

As long as we have have predatory capitalism, we'll have guns because the gun industry loves to make money out of guns.

— Fantastic Negrito