BART Connects: Fantastic Negrito's BART story

"BART connects me to the first audience I ever had."

Before the Grammys, there was BART.

Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz, known by his stage name Fantastic Negrito, went from busking in BART stations to collecting his first, second, and third Grammy for Best Contemporary Blues Album.

He hasn't forgotten where it started -- and he keeps coming back.

In 2014, Fantastic Negrito was busking outside the Lake Merritt and Mission BART stations. He wasn't getting gigs and felt like the industry had written him off, so he brought his songs to the people.

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"When clubs didn't want to book me, when people just didn't think the music I was doing had any future, I came out to the BART station," he said. "That's how I connected with people getting off the train - everyday, ordinary people. It connected me to songwriting. It connected me to stories."

When his first Grammy arrived in the mail, he didn't open it at home. He took it to the corner where he always played -- Lake Merritt Station -- and opened it there, on the street, Grammy on the ground, guitar in hand.

He still comes back to BART sometimes to work out new songs. Some people walk past with AirPods in. He plays anyway.

"BART connects me to the first audience I ever had," he said. "If I don't come back here, something's wrong with me."

Read more BART Connects stories at bart.gov/bartconnects.

About BART Connects

Tens of millions of people ride BART every year -- to work, dates, practice, friends, and fun. BART Connects tells their stories.

In June, BART Communications launched the second edition of BART Connects, a storytelling series that features real BART riders who span generations, neighborhoods, and walks of life. You can read their stories below.

In the coming months, the stars of BART Connects will take us for a ride in a series of video featurettes that will be regularly posted on BART social media.

You will also see the faces of BART Connects riders in advertising spaces in the BART System and across the region.

BART Connects grew out of a call for rider stories BART Communications launched in 2023 to learn how our transit system impacts people's lives. The initial response made clear that BART means something to those who ride it.

Have a cool BART story to share? Submit a short summary at bart.gov/story. You may be the next BART Connects feature!