“Get ready for Oakland to meet New Orleans!” Fantastic Negrito, aka Xavier Dphrepaulezz, teased on Twitter. It’s an apt description of “I’m So Happy I Cry,” the second single from his forthcoming album, Have You Lost Your Mind Yet? The song features Tarriona “Tank” Ball of Tank and the Bangas, and the vibrant sounds of their respective hometowns of Oakland and New Orleans ring through.
Fantastic Negrito won NPR Music’s first-ever Tiny Desk Contest in 2015 and Tank and the Bangas won the Contest in 2017. These two artists with spectacularly singular voices form quite the dynamic duo on the new track.
Of their collaboration, Fantastic Negrito says in a press statement: “Working with Tank was such a joy. She is a powerful, dynamic artist, and we made a little bit of history together. It was the first time that two Tiny Desk winners collaborated on a song.”
Tank adds: “‘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. It’s the truest testament in believing not only is change gonna come, but it is here.”
This recognition of change fuels the song and its accompanying music video, which was filmed in downtown Oakland. The video features The Remember Them: Champions for Humanity Monument, an Oakland landmark that serves as “a poignant reminder of the power we each possess to make positive change.”
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