Music
The best kept secret in music
Press
Chocolate Butterfly has a really refreshing sound that's innovative, funky and soulful. Chocolate Butterfly has a great sound that's different from what you hear on radio today.?E
Vanessa Moore, MTV-2
- Vanessa Moore, MTV-2
Chocolate Butterfly has a nice feel and groove that's different from most of the music out there today.?E
- Ali Muhammad, Vibe Magazine - Ali Muhammed, Vibe Magazine
Chocolate Butterfly is a sophisticated mix of exotic sounds, poetry, and soul with a funky twist.?E
?ECDBaby.com
- CDBaby.com
Chocolate Butterfly has a blend of styles that stretches from Prince-like funk to hip hop styled beats to some of the rawer edges of the current Neosoul scene.?E
- DustyGroove.com
- DustyGroove.com
Generation X. Multitalented hip-hop/pop-rock-influenced Xavier makes his debut on Joe Ruffalo's Lexington House label with The X Factor,?Ereleased Jan. 9. Saturday Song,?Efrom the Interscope-distributed album, is being worked to Top 40, Top 40/Rhythm, and college radio. He will tour West Coast clubs with a full band in February. - Billboard 96
Multitalented hip-hop/pop-rock-influenced Xavier makes his debut on Joe Ruffalo’s Lexington House label with “The X Factor,” released Jan 9. “Satruday Song,” from the Interscope-distributed album, is being worked to Top 40, Top 40/Rhythm, and college radio. He will tour West Coast clubs with a full band in February.
- Billboard
The X Factor is a sophisticated mix of poetry and elaborate musical arrangements with an acid jazz twist. Dubbed “Somali Funk,” the 15-son album is an astonishingly complete package from a new and very real talent. Songs like “The Good Kiss of Love” conjure Teena Marie’s “De La Vu (I’ve Been Here Before)” as well as the days when Prince was “Soft and Wet.” The luscious “Cinnamon Girl” accomplishes what every slow jam should by achingly invoking memories of loves won and loves not. “Angel of Mercy” explores the depths of despair and the heights of hope, while delving into the singer’s Somalian roots. Xavier’s self-produced debut stretches the limits of contemporary R&B – The X Factor radiates with ingenuity.
- Vibe Magazine
Xavier’s wildly eclectic debut is the sound of an individual letting his peculiar soul run free. A virtual newcomer to the business, Xavier Amin Dphrepaulezz carries on like flower child on a peace quiet out to destroy the usual banter of R&B; but he can’t resist adding a little sex and rebellion to the mix. A native of Somalia, Xavier was raised in a strict household that disallowed secular music or television. So at age 11 when the family moved too Oakland, R&B and funk smacked him upside the head, sunk in and got him banished from his home. Xavier packed his bags and drum machine, and became a musical recluse, soaking up the 70’s soul out of which he evolves his debut, The X Factor.
Xavier’s music reflects the culture shock he endured as a youngster. His combination of intricate arrangements, poetic delivery and whispery voice will faintly remind you of Prince. But this album distinguishes Xavier as a talent whose music mirrors his isolated past. All his tracks are filled with either furious guitar strums or sustained electric guitar notes, heavy bass-lines and keyboards buried deep for emotional underscoring.
Whether he is talking about strictly boning in “Purely Sexual,” his search for his Somalian roots in “Angel of Mercy,” or serenading the lady he lost in the lullaby “Cinnamon Girl,” Xavier comfortably drifts into the sexually explicit while taking note of deep social issues. He can be found in a foster home freaking the family daughter in “Gentle Screamer”; and on the flip side, in “Saturday Song,” he addresses the state of a nation where kids are raised by television. Even when he’s mediocre, Xavier will throw in a guitar solo to draw the listener back in.
With the twenty-something set’s appreciation of old school at an all-time high—see D’Angelo, Maxwell, Groove Theory, etc. –Xavier has tapped into an increasingly saturated market, one that will soon demand highly individualized artists. The X Factor, with its 15 compositions, delivers a musician, singer and songwriter that ca fulfill that need.
- The Source
Discography
Chocolate Butterfly - Chocolate Butterfly
Photos
Feeling a bit camera shy
Bio
With a name as distinctive and unique as Chocolate Butterfly, one can assume that producer, singer-songwriter and founder of Los AngelesEBlack Ball Universe, Xavier Dphrepaulezz's newest musical incarnation will live up to its name.
Growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area where innovative music, particularly funk and soul, is lovingly embraced and cradled like a child, Chocolate Butterfly is poised to join the music pantheon previously reserved for such Bay Area legends as Sly Stone, Frankie Beverly & Maze, The Whispers, Tower of Power, Confunkshun, and Tony Toni Tone. The eighth child in a family of 14, his father, an East African immigrant, was 33 years older than his mother. Perhaps it was this odd union Eand the early exposure to such outstanding musicians - that created such an extraordinarily gifted artist. Chocolate Butterfly's goal is simple, I just want to make good music without the major label politics and just let the people decide,Esays Xavier, If you believe in yourself and your message, the music just happens.E
Chances are you've seen Xavier on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, BET's Planet Groove, or maybe you remember Xavier on tour with The Fugees, The Time, De La Soul, Arrested Development, or Cameo. Recently, Chocolate Butterfly hooked up with the legendary MC Slim Kid Tre of The Pharcyde to record the catchy and danceable album, SatisfactionE Along with several other songs off the album, Ode to KingEand A Love ContagiousEare presently being heard on shows like Barbershop (Showtime), The Kevin Hill Show (UPN) and Las Vegas (NBC). This exposure has helped Chocolate Butterfly sell an astonishing 10,000 units, which is quite an amazing accomplishment for an independent label.
My ideas usually come to me in my dreams,EXavier says. I was thinking of what direction I wanted to take my music and I had this dream of a butterfly. To watch a butterfly hovering in nature is to witness beauty, freedom, and spontaneity.EAfter receiving this vision, Xavier reflected on how a butterfly can masterfully change direction in mid-air and wanted his music to reflect the butterfly's flight pattern. And I wanted the music to be both sexy and urban, so I added ChocolateEto it.EChocolate Butterfly is a lush and humble journey through the sonic garden of love and relationships, as well as a reflection of the artist's life. Xavier's most recent manifestation is a complete and fresh package featuring an extraordinarily soulful voice coupled with impeccable musicianship. The album is sophisticated as it captures the smooth essence of Stevie Wonder and early Prince, and funky as it echoes timeless greats like Marvin Gaye and Parliament. With it dazzling guitar licks and solos (masterfully played by guitarist Masa Kohama), thumping soul bass and grooving synth lines, Chocolate Butterfly is an album that merges 60's and 70's soul vocals with the funk of the 70's and 80's, fused with a hint of hip hop, elements of contemporary blues and psychedelic rock.
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