Fantastic Negrito returns this summer with Have You Lost Your Mind Yet?, the follow-up to 2018’s Please Don’t Be Dead. After previously sharing the album tracks “Chocolate Samurai” and “How Long?”, the blues artist has today dropped a new single, “I’m So Happy I Cry”, a collaboration featuring Tarriona “Tank” Ball of Tank and the Bangas.
The stomping dirge comes at a fitting time, given the current climate of our country. “‘I’m So Happy I Cry’ to me is about being so overjoyed when change finally comes from living a life of constant fear and survival,” Tank said in a press statement. “It’s the truest testament in believing not only is change gonna come, but it is here.”
That celebration of advancement came from tragedy, however, as Fantastic Negrito was inspired to write the song following the death of Juice WRLD. Touching on the “many young artists suffering from what I perceive as mental illness,” the musician noted,
“…This current movie that’s on repeat, I’ve seen it before, I’ve been in it, and I want to speak out. I want to warn them that they are surrounded by people and companies who profit from the destruction of their mind, bodies, souls and ultimately their community. I’m a middle-aged guy. I have small children, so I try to be very careful about what I’m putting out into the universe. If I feel like I have some experience or wisdom on an issue, I try to make a contribution.”
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The collaboration itself is also noteworthy, as both Tank and the Bangas and Fantastic Negrito rose to popularity after winning NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest. According to Negrito, this is the first time two winners have collaborated. Take a listen to “I’m So Happy I Cry” via its music video below.
Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? is out August 14th via Cooking Vinyl/Blackball Universe. Pre-orders are ongoing.
