Fantastic Negrito: Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?
Music Documentary Feature
USA, 91 Minutes
Director Yvan Iturriaga and Francisco Nuñez Capriles
Producers Josh Healey, Yvan Iturriaga and Francisco Nuñez Capriles
Executive Producer Josh Healey and Yvan Iturriaga
Cinematographers Andrés Gallegos, Leo Maco and Francisco Nuñez Capriles
Music By Fantastic Negrito
Cast Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, Malcolm Spellman, LJ Holoman, Corney Mims
Beyond the bombastic stage persona of Fantastic Negrito lies a 51-year-old survivor, hustler, and self-described ‘recovering narcissist’ named Xavier Dphrepaulezz.
After his improbable midlife transformation from busking bluesman to back-to-back Grammy winner, Xavier is now ready to face his demons. Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? follows Xavier in his Oakland studio as he creates his newest album of the same title, laying bare his extraordinary journey and the "many hallucinations" he has experienced along the way.
Following the structure of an album tracklist and featuring intimate and often hilarious interviews with philosopher-poet Xavier and his brilliant band of collaborators and close friends, the film traces his journey from early isolation as a Black Muslim kid in rural Massachusetts to Bay Area star with a global fanbase.
Along the way, the story of a singular musician unfolds as Xavier evolves from misfit, to homeless teenager, drug dealer, struggling L.A. pop hopeful, underground punk innovator, and urban farmer. A pivotal event in his thirties led to a dramatic rebirth that allowed him to finally embrace his own identity — both on stage and off.
Through all these chapters, a map of Xavier’s life takes shape alongside Oakland and America's fissures of race, class, and culture that inform his unique, infectious blend of the blues. Mixing self-reflection with his own wry charm, Xavier opens up about his relationship with his emotionally brutal father; harrowing brushes with gun violence; the perils of Hollywood; and the painful art of self-reinvention. From tragedy to triumph to tragedy and back again, this is a rollercoaster story of life and creation after destruction.
After his improbable midlife transformation from busking bluesman to back-to-back Grammy winner, Xavier is now ready to face his demons. Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? follows Xavier in his Oakland studio as he creates his newest album of the same title, laying bare his extraordinary journey and the "many hallucinations" he has experienced along the way.
Following the structure of an album tracklist and featuring intimate and often hilarious interviews with philosopher-poet Xavier and his brilliant band of collaborators and close friends, the film traces his journey from early isolation as a Black Muslim kid in rural Massachusetts to Bay Area star with a global fanbase.
Along the way, the story of a singular musician unfolds as Xavier evolves from misfit, to homeless teenager, drug dealer, struggling L.A. pop hopeful, underground punk innovator, and urban farmer. A pivotal event in his thirties led to a dramatic rebirth that allowed him to finally embrace his own identity — both on stage and off.
Through all these chapters, a map of Xavier’s life takes shape alongside Oakland and America's fissures of race, class, and culture that inform his unique, infectious blend of the blues. Mixing self-reflection with his own wry charm, Xavier opens up about his relationship with his emotionally brutal father; harrowing brushes with gun violence; the perils of Hollywood; and the painful art of self-reinvention. From tragedy to triumph to tragedy and back again, this is a rollercoaster story of life and creation after destruction.
Festivals & Awards
Mill Valley Film Festival
SF DocFest
SF DocFest
