A biography for Fantastic Negritohasn’t been written yet.
“I think things happen, and we have no control over them, and what you take from them is really what is important.”
“I thought my story was over. But that was when I realised I finally had a story to tell - and it seems to remind people of their own story.”
“So-called leaders aren't doing anything, so it's become the job of artists like me. We have to get on the front lines and fight for the people who have love and tolerance in their hearts and want to live in a unified world.”
“I was raised on African music, Harry Belafonte, and the Boston Pops. Then I got a dose of soul and hip-hop. I related to it immediately.”
“I don't mind being the voice of the New Oakland to maintain the integrity and edge of it. Old Oakland and New Oakland is one and the same. It's connected. I aspire to be the bridge between both.”
“I like being photographed without glasses. I don't want to be pretentious.”
“My life, my failures. I hope that gives people the lesson to rebuild their own lives.”
“Everybody agreed I had all this talent, but I didn't know what to make of it.”
“I like going out and looking at people, and they inspire me so much.”
“I came up with the album name 'Please Don't Be Dead' because I felt like we'd lost our way as a society - and I know what happens when you chase the wrong things. It's the story of my life.”
“My most revered hero is Robert Johnson. His lyrics are so consistent with rap: the danger, the boldness, the creativity.”
“Doing a concert, I look at a room full of different people, and I see you've got Muslims, you've got Jews, you've got Christians, you've got gays, you've got straights, you've got blacks, you've got whites. I think, 'How can I unite these people through song?'”
“I think that was always my strength. I was never a great player, but I could write.”
“Nothing unifies people more than music, more than that universal riff. The one thing that unifies us and the hope that we can have, especially being an artist, is that we can create music that can build bridges and smash down very bad ideas.”
“I take the purest and hardest forms of music... and come in completely fresh from a production standpoint. It's like hip-hop production, because there's a lot of taking the best parts and a lot of the repetitiveness.”
“What did winning a Grammy do for me? It made me want to get rid of my Grammy, pack it away, and never see it again. It made me not want to speak to anyone who wanted to speak about my Grammy.”
“As long as we have have predatory capitalism, we'll have guns because the gun industry loves to make money out of guns.”
“Usually when tragedy is present, a great art movement is right behind it.”
“I fear for the lives of my daughters. I am uncertain about what kind of future they will face.”
“'Fantastic' is self-explanatory, you know? And the 'Negrito' is a way to open up blackness to everyone - you know, make it playful, international. It's extremely positive in my view; it's my affair with this music.”