Dphrepaulezz spent his early childhood in Massachusetts, the son of a Somali-Caribbean immigrant, before his family relocated to Oakland when he was 12. By the time his teens were over, he’d taught himself to play numerous instruments, eventually leading to what seemed like the jackpot: a major-label contract. The result was X-Factor, an album Dphrepaulezz released in 1995 under the mononym Xavier. Polished, socially conscious and steeped in the classic soul of Sly Stone and Shuggie Otis, the album didn’t find much traction in the post-grunge ’90s. Dphrepaulezz has called the Xavier experience “creative death” — and, after coming close to actual death a few years later, it appeared as though his music career had given up the ghost.

Last Days Of Oakland is stunning proof otherwise. The birth of his son a few years ago reignited Dphrepaulezz’s musical passion, and that passion drips from every hook, riff, beat, clap, croon and howl on the album. “Lost In A Crowd” — the song that beat out 7,000 other Tiny Desk entrants, and one he performed last year as part of his Tiny Desk concert — provides the record’s emotional core, a stomping hymn of gospel intensity. “Lost in the wilderness of sound / Get through the day, don’t drown,” Dphrepaulezz sings. “Feelings of rage and broken bones,” he adds later, drawing from his own deep well of frustration and struggle. Relief comes in the form of delicate, tenderly melodic interludes: “We’re just people, lonely people, you and I.” The dynamic is wrenching in the best possible way. “Working Poor” sticks to a steadier tone, as it mixes fuzzed-out blues with rich organ chords and a snarled commandment: “Don’t sell your life.”

As intense as Last Days Of Oakland is, it’s filled with small moments of quietude, lushness and grace. Dphrepaulezz’s band is impeccably tasteful, even when it’s tearing out raw chunks of Zeppelin-esque rhythm in “Hump Thru The Winter.” In the ballad “About A Bird,” smoky jazziness mingles with spiritual fervor, while “Rant Rushmore” offers bittersweet reflection and regret, not to mention a chorus of amens, to counterbalance its profanity-laced tirade. Last Days Of Oakland is a powerful document — if not a full-on rallying cry — about bulldozing all the roadblocks life piles up through sheer force of will, talent and song. It’s an angry album. It’s a righteous album. It’s a redemptive album. Ultimately, though, it’s a celebration of hard-fought survival, something Dphrepaulezz knows all too well.

Copyright 2016 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

As we learned after choosing him as our winner, Fantastic Negrito — a.k.a. Xavier Dphrepaulezz, pronounced dee-FREP-ah-lez — has a remarkable backstory. One of 15 children, he grew up in a strict home, and later signed a contract with Interscope Records in the ’90s. That deal fell apart, though, and soured him on music-making. Then, a near-fatal car crash put him in a coma, and eventually left him without the proper use of his hands; he struggled with physical therapy for years to get some movement from what he now calls “The Claw.”

These days, bolstered by a new outlook on life and music, he’s reawakened and reemerged under the name Fantastic Negrito. You’ll see that newly rediscovered purpose in his eyes and hear it in his voice, as he performs this Tiny Desk Concert with his fantastic band.

Set List

• “Lost In A Crowd”
• “Night Has Turned To Day”
• “An Honest Man”

Credits

Producers: Bob Boilen, Maggie Starbard; Audio Engineer: Kevin Wait; Videographers: Colin Marshall, Nick Michael, Maggie Starbard; Assistant Producer: Morgan McCloy; photo by Morgan McCloy/NPR

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

With a video shot in a freight elevator in Oakland behind a desk made of a steel slab and a work bench, this soulful character won our hearts. Xavier Dphrepaulezz is a singer from Oakland with a passion that felt undeniable. Though I watched thousands of videos, the moment I heard his voice and saw such conviction to his song I thought, “Wow, I think this guy could win.” I wasn’t alone: The other judges — Robin Hilton, Valerie June, Reggie Watts, John Congleton and Thao Nguyen — also found Fantastic Negrito and his band compelling.

In the past few days, we’ve learned more about this musician’s life and story. It wasn’t part of why we picked him, but it is amazing. You’ll hear more in an interview with him on All Things Considered tonight, but here’s a bit of that story, from the official Tiny Desk Concert Contest announcement:

Fantastic Negrito calls himself a musician reborn. As a young man, the Oakland singer taught himself to play just about every instrument he could get his hands on. But after making a record that failed to take off, he felt his confidence and artistry suffer; disenchanted with music, he simply quit. The years that followed brought major life changes: a near-deadly car accident and the resulting coma, intense rehabilitation, marriage and the birth of his son. Now, renewed creative energy has spawned the musical project that is Fantastic Negrito. He chose the name, he says, as “a celebration of blackness. The ‘Fantastic’ is self-explanatory; the ‘Negrito’ is a way to open blackness up to everyone, making it playful and international.” Judges Bob Boilen, Robin Hilton, John Congleton, Valerie June, Reggie Watts and Thao Nguyen agreed that this soulful, unbridled performance, captured at a makeshift desk in an Oakland freight elevator, stood out from the crowd.

You can watch Fantastic Negrito’s submission video here right now, and we’ll have more from him soon. On a date in late February, this band will join us at NPR and perform a Tiny Desk Concert. We’ll put that concert online around March 9. They’ll then have the pleasure of playing as part of CouchTrippin’ to Austin, a show put on by Lagunitas Brewing Co., which sponsored the contest.

Deciding on a winner wasn’t easy. People put their hearts and souls, along with a desk of their choosing, into the nearly 7,000 submissions. Some did it to win, some did it for fun. What I loved most is that regardless of motivation, people got together to do something they may not have ever done, to create something unique and something they’ll be able to share with friends and family forever. I think of all the desks dragged into nature, onto hilltops, into and around oceans, through offices and kitchens, classrooms and science labs. Friends gathered and made something memorable, and that’s my favorite part of this, our very first Tiny Desk Concert Contest.

Thank you all for participating — my eyes were red not from watching all those videos but from tears of joy.

Congratulations to Fantastic Negrito, from Bob Boilen and all of us here around the Tiny Desk!

Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.