Fantastic Negrito starting record label in Oakland

Grammy-winning Bay Area blues-roots-R&B artist Fantastic Negrito is launching his own record label in Oakland.

It’s called Storefront Records, and it will be located in the West Oakland neighborhood. And he’s already line up his first recording artist: himself.

“I believe in reinvesting my success back into the local community that I grew up in,” the acclaimed vocalist said in message to this newspaper group. “I’ll be releasing my next album on my new label Storefront Records. I always dreamt of being able to do this on my own.

“Contributing to this community is at the heart of our mission as a record label. We produce what we believe in and nothing else.”

And he is looking for your help to start the record company and has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for the project.

“We’re fundraising to get this label off the ground properly,” Fantastic Negrito posted on the GoFundMe page. “I’ll pay my hardworking team, my band, my collaborators, my engineers, and all of the creatives that I work with on my new album. We’ve also got to hire photographers, videographers, graphic designers, and do some marketing.

“We strongly believe in hiring local creatives from Oakland and the greater Bay Area. The funds will also go toward keeping my recording studio in shape, keeping the lights on at the record label, and producing events for the community. We believe in fostering relationships in our local music community so we can showcase the Bay Area’s talent to the world.”

As of 1 p.m. Friday, the campaign had raised nearly $23,000 toward its $100,000 goal.

Fantastic Negrito says he came up with the idea of starting Storefront after once again winning the best contemporary blues album Grammy Award earlier this year for his most recent album “Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?”

“I wondered to myself, “What do I do after winning my third consecutive Grammy?'” posted the musician born Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz. “Ahhh — start an Oakland-based record label owned and operated by artists and musicians.

Although he hasn’t signed on any acts yet, he says that he always wanted “to run a record label from an artist’s perspective.”

“Storefront Records will be about collaborative works. There is so so much untapped talent in the Bay Area. I want to walk in the footsteps of the unique excellence of my Bay Area predecessors.

“It’s very important to me that I build Storefront Records in Oakland, CA. Our building is located in West Oakland, a neighborhood in great need of resources and opportunities.”