Fantastic Negrito: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?

This locally made doc packs a lot of life into ninety minutes—specifically, the supersize life of Xavier Dephrepaulezz, better known as Grammy-winning Oakland bluesman Fantastic Negrito, and his journey from early isolation as a Black Muslim kid in rural Massachusetts to a Bay Area star with a global fanbase. Along the way, the story of a singular musician unfolds, and we meet a misfit, maverick, drug dealer, punk innovator, urban farmer, and vulnerable bandleader. With powerful musical artistry and his own wry charm, Fantastic Negrito dishes on his relationship with his emotionally brutal father, being a “recovering narcissist,” the perils of the music industry, and the painful art of self-reinvention. A pivotal event in his thirties led to a rebirth of sorts and allowed him to embrace his own identity in an unexpected way—which led to the glorious present-day iteration of the “undeniable energy” that continues to drive him.