Shooting the breeze with Fantastic Negrito

“It’s not only my city where this is happening,” notes Xavier. “I’ve really got the feeling from touring that this has been happening in other cities around the world too. Even when I went to Europe, I picked up on it. In the States, we’ve been moving into a new way of living, where you may not be able to afford to live in your own home town. It’s really troubling to me, because so much great art came out of these big cities. Now they’re being taken over by the tech industries and people with money, and soon they might be places exclusively for an elite class.”
Xavier grew up running with inner-city gangs in Oakland, a precarious existence which presented obvious threats. “Growing up, I lost a 14-year-old brother, a 16-year-old cousin, and my best friend, all to gun violence. So yeah, it was extremely dangerous, but what were you going to do? There was nothing else.” The young Xavier also had a passion for music, and his life took an extraordinary turn when he started making four-track demos at home. The recordings ended up with Prince’s management, which led to Xavier signing a million dollar record deal and moving to Los Angeles. A big Prince fan, the singer encountered the late icon on several occasions.
“One time was at Paisley Park,” recalls Xavier. “Of course, that was his personal playground. He was married to Mayte at the time and she was there. He had the New Power Generation in his crib! It was cool, I remember he was playing bass guitar. They were having a little session and I recall thinking, ‘He’s not playing lead – he’s playing the bass.’ And he was playing the shit out of it! It was very brief; he left and then we got to jam with the New Power Generation. That was a great thing for a youngster.
“The second time I met him was in Los Angeles. Do you want to know the funniest thing? I was at Cahuenga and Hollywood Boulevard at 2am – there was a 24-hour news stand there. Next thing a car pulls up and Prince gets out! That was our second encounter. But he was nice; we had a good talk and he grabbed his magazines. Then he got back into this car and his driver sped him off into the night.
“I know he had a reputation for being eccentric sometimes, but whenever I met him he was very kind and generous. I think he always enjoyed being around artists. He was just a brother from north Minneapolis, you know? I always took him that way.” Unfortunately for Xavier, his life in LA spiralled out of control; he ultimately ended up in a car crash which resulted in a fractured skull and left him in a coma for three weeks. He spent five years away from music altogether, during which time he worked as a marijuana farmer and started an arts collective in Oakland.
The singer gradually recovered his appetite for music, which led to him making The Last Days Of Oakland. Xavier’s renown even saw him play at a number of rallies for Bernie Sanders, of whom he is a keen supporter. “I played at three events,” he explains. “One was in New Hampshire in the snow; one was in Nevada, and the other was in San Francisco. I met him and had a good conversation with him; he’s a very interesting and nice person. Of course, I’m disappointed he’s not running, but I’m a big boy. I understand that this is politics and this is the game.”