Fantastic Negrito

Fantastic Negrito: living colour.

★★★★ White Jesus Black Problems STOREFRONT. CD/DL/LP

Oakland troubadour finds inspiration in his past.

THIS TREMENDOUS synthesis of righteous rhetoric and gnarly, funkflecked blues-rock reflects an astounding discovery Negrito made while researching his family history: that he is descended from a Scottish indentured servant, Elizabeth Gallamore, and an unnamed black African slave, who lived in Virginia during the 1750s. Inspired to write 50 songs about his ancestors, he eventually whittled the album down to a more digestible baker’s dozen; their themes focusing on the uneasy intersection of race, capitalism and enslavement, but also his forebears’ courage in the face of adversity. The album’s plentiful highlights include Venomous Dogma, a slice of psych-pop meets heavy blues-rock, and the catchy Nibbadip, a jubilant pop-gospel confection with shades of Prince and the Stones in its DNA. A potent artistic tour de force, White Jesus Black Problems’ message is ultimately a simple but lifeaffirming one: love can conquer all.