Fantastic Negrito wins first Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues album
“The Bay Area has had one of its most successful Grammy years in recent memory. With a total of 18 nominations for local artists and producers, the region has at least garnered the most nominations it’s had in five years according to Michael Winger, the Executive Director of the Recording Academy’s San Francisco Chapter.
One such Bay Area artist feeling the glow of success is Oakland’s Fantastic Negrito, a blues guitarist and singer named Xavier Dphrepaulezz who first grew to fame after winning NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Contest in 2015.
Two years after he found internet fame and landed multiple music festival appearances, he won his first Best Contemporary Blues Album Grammy for 2016’s “The Last Days of Oakland.”
In addition to Dphrepaulezz, other Bay Area nominees include San Francisco Symphony director Michael Tilson-Thomas for Best Orchestral Performance for the Symphony’s recording of “Bates: Works for Orchestra,” Metallica for Best Rock Song, Oakland-based Los Rakas for Best Latin Rock, Urban, or Alternative Album, San Francisco electronic outfit Tycho for Best Dance/Electronic, Margaret Cho for Best Comedy Album, and more.”
Independent Distribution Collective Blog 