In this Roots Radio episode, co-hosts Lisa Bonta Sumii and Richie Nuñez feature singer/songwriter, Fantastic Negrito.
Fantastic Negrito takes you on a journey, portraying a narrative of triumph over adversity. His journey is a representation of a musician from Oakland who experienced the zenith of securing a million-dollar record contract, plummeted into the abyss after a life-threatening car accident that resulted in a coma, and is now witnessing a resurgence that has brought him from the alleys of Oakland to international fame.
This man’s life story is as compelling as his music because his experiences shape his sound. The music, inspired by a life full of trials, is an expression of black roots music, woven with elements of slide guitar, drums, and piano. The tunes convey an atmosphere of urgency, desperation, and tension.
Negrito earned nationwide recognition when he clinched the first NPR Tiny Desk contest in 2015. He followed up this success with Grammy wins for all three of his albums:
The Last Days of Oakland (2017),
Please Don’t Be Dead (2019), and
Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? (2021). The most recent album includes collaborations with fellow Tiny Desk winner Tank (Tank and the Bangas) and the Bay Area icon E-40.
Negrito’s journey has been full of exciting turns in recent years. His independent record label, Storefront Records in West Oakland, launched his two newest projects. White Jesus Black Problems (2022) and Grandfather Courage (2023) explore the forbidden love story of his ancestors — a white Scottish indentured servant and an enslaved African man on a Virginia tobacco plantation in the 1750s.
White Jesus Black Problems is accompanied by a 42-minute video available for viewing on YouTube.
Additionally, Negrito has initiated
The Storefront Market, an outdoor community market located at Storefront Records. The tenth iteration of this market recently partnered with Thrive City at The Chase Center, home to The Golden State Warriors in San Francisco. This partnership offered a platform for various Bay Area artists and vendors to showcase their work in the city.
Lisa Bonta Sumii, LCSW, CSW | Athlete Mindset podcast host:
Lisa is a psychotherapist and mental performance consultant to high-performing athletes at the youth, collegiate, Olympic-hopeful, and professional levels. She is the first-ever Mental Health & Performance Coach for the Oakland Roots SC, a men’s professional soccer team, in the USL. Lisa is the Founder & CEO of AthMindset, a diverse team of licensed mental health clinicians and mental performance consultants, who serve alongside her.
Wrapping up:
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Related episodes to Fantastic Negrito | Oakland “Roots Radio”:
Two current projects:
Credits:
What is Athlete Mindset?
This is the Athlete Mindset podcast. Presented and produced by SportsEpreneur. Part of the QuietLoud Studios Podcast Network.
And this podcast is all about mental health in sports.
This podcast series is a space for conversations with athletes, coaches, practitioners, and stakeholders in sports. And it’s where those individuals share their perspectives, experiences, and thoughts on mental health in sports.
Hosted by Lisa Bonta Sumii, LCSW, CMPC
Eric Kasimov, Founder of KazSource and the creator of SportsE Media, is generously hosting the Athlete Mindset podcast on his platform as he deeply believes these conversations are essential and deserve to be prioritized.
If you are looking to start a podcast or create original content, you have to talk with the team at SportsE Media. I work with them and I vouch for them. It’s that simple.
About Lisa Bonta Sumii, LCSW, CMPC
Lisa is a mental health therapist with over 21 years of clinical experience, licensed in both CA and NV. She is a private practice clinician and the CEO and Founder of AthMindset, LLC.
Lisa supports the elite athlete to achieve optimal mental health and peak mental sport performance. She works with adolescent sport teams, collegiate student-athletes, Olympians/Olympic hopefuls, as well as professional athletes and teams.
Lisa is the first-ever Mental Health & Sport Performance Specialist for the Oakland Roots Sports Club. The Roots are a men’s professional soccer team and purpose-driven club. Seeing the elite athlete as a multidimensional human, navigating various roles and identities, is integral to Lisa’s approach. Focusing on the role that interpersonal trauma, culture, race, gender, and sexual orientation play as the athlete navigates life on and off the field, is at the center of her work.
Lisa is listed in the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee’s Mental Health Registry and the National Football League Player Association’s Clinician Directory.
Lisa is often an invited podcast guest and conference speaker. Besides hosting the Athlete Mindset podcast on the SportsE+ podcast platform. She spoke at TEDxWilmington on the intersection of race, mental health, and sport.
She has been featured in Time Magazine, Teen Vogue, BBC World News, and Women’s Health Magazine.
AthMindset, LLC, supports the mental health of the elite athlete and their ecosystem. This includes serving the spouses/partners, family members, coaches, teams, referees/umpires, agents, and athletic trainers, with clinical services and sport performance consultation.
To get more content like this check out https://sportsepreneur.com and https://quietloudstudios.com/