Santigold

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Santigold

Santigold performing in Boston, Massachusetts, June 2012.
Background information
Birth name Santi White
Also known as Santogold
Born (1976-09-25) September 25, 1976[1][2]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Genres Electronic, synthpop, new wave, dub, reggae fusion, alternative hip hop, alternative dance[3][4][5][6]
Occupations Singer, songwriter, record producer, rapper
Instruments Vocals, guitar, drums, keyboards[7]
Years active 2003–present
Labels Lizard King, Atlantic, Downtown, Roc Nation
Associated acts Stiffed, NASA, The Lonely Island, Amanda Blank, Spank Rock, Major Lazer, David Byrne, Beastie Boys, Jay Z, Diplo, Basement Jaxx, Red Hot Chili Peppers, ASAP Rocky, Karen O
Website www.santigold.com

Santi White (born September 25, 1976), better known by her stage name Santigold (formerly Santogold),[8] is an American singer-songwriter and producer. Her debut album Santogold was released to positive reviews in 2008.[9][10] Her second album Master of My Make-Believe was released in April 2012,[11] also to critical acclaim. She is a mezzo-soprano.

Education

She attended Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US and later attended college at Wesleyan University, where she double-majored in music and African-American studies.

Early career

She attained her pseudonym in the 1990s after a friend gave it to her as a nickname.[12] She worked for Epic Records as an A&R representative but left the position to co-write and executive produce How I Do, the singer Res's debut album.[13]

She was the singer of Philadelphia-based punk rock band Stiffed,[14] which released the albums Sex Sells (2003) and Burned Again (2005): Both were produced by Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer.[15] While in the band, White was offered a solo contract by Martin Heath of London-based independent label Lizard King Records.[5]

Career

Santogold, tour and other performances, 2007–10

Her first singles as a soloist "Creator" and "L.E.S. Artistes" received attention from Internet media outlets in 2007,[16] and her debut album Santogold, conceived with fellow Stiffed member John Hill,[17][18] was issued in April 2008. The record featured appearances and production work from Chuck Treece, Diplo, Switch, and Jonnie "Most" Davis, among others.[19]

Santogold was critically acclaimed by both Entertainment Weekly and Spin,[9][18] while "L.E.S. Artistes" made the number 2 position on Rolling Stone's "Singles of the Year" list.[20]Santogold was sixth on the magazine's "Albums of the Year" list.[21] "Creator," along with "Lights Out,"[22] appeared in commercials in the US[23][24] and the UK.

Santigold at Eurockéennes, July 5, 2008

During the summer of 2000, she released a mixtape CD, Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub, that was well received by Pitchfork[25] and NME.[26] To support Santogold, she toured with M.I.A. and Björk,[19] and in June 2008, Coldplay invited her to be their opening act in the US.[27] Her own US tour was called Goldrush Tour,[28] and upon its completion, she supported Jay-Z and Kanye West on a number of their shows[29][30] and the Streets at BBC's Electric Proms music festival.[31] She finished the tour opening for Beastie Boys for three concerts on their get-out-the-vote Swing State Tour.[32]

In February 2009, White announced that she changed her stage name to Santigold for reasons related to a possible lawsuit from director Santo Victor Rigatuso, who produced the 1985 movie Santo Gold's Blood Circus.[33] She finished the second leg of the tour in August 2009 at the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago[34] with Billboard noting that she "delivered a bright set and drew a headliner-sized audience" for a late afternoon concert.[34] Before leaving the stage, she announced she was preparing to write her next album.[34]

Master of My Make-Believe, tour and other work, 2011–13

In 2011, she published the song "Go!" which featured Karen O of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The track was produced by Switch, Q-Tip and herself, and NME praised it as a "brittle and brilliant brawler of a track" with "great reverberating militaristic kettle-drum booms."[35]

She announced the follow-up to Santogold would be out in spring 2012: It was recorded in part in Jamaica and co-produced in part with TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek.[11] Talking to Billboard, she described her forthcoming album as "sonically eclectic but with some epic curveballs thrown into the mix."[36] The singer further said, "I want it to be about creating your own reality. I have a song called “The Keepers”: “We’re the keepers, while we sleep in America our house is burning down."[11] "Big Mouth", the first track and video from the album was issued in late January as a free download.[37] In February, an animated video for "Disparate Youth" was uploaded to her official YouTube channel.[38] as the first single of the album. It was also released on iTunes in the US and later along with several remixes, in the UK.[38]

Master of My Make-Believe was released in late April[39] to critical acclaim.[40] "Disparate Youth" was featured in a December 2012 advertisement for the 2013 Honda Civic[41] and a piano version of the song was used in a 2012-13 ad for Direct Line insurance.[42] She then went on tour and opened a few shows on the US leg of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' I'm with You Tour.[43] In May and June, she headlined her own US shows before a summer European tour. On August 15, 2012, she performed on the deck of the USS Intrepid as part of "Stephest Colbchella '012: Rocktaugustfest" on The Colbert Report, and on May 9, 2013, she appeared as herself on The Office episode "A.A.R.M.." She revealed that an album is in the works for 2014, calling it the most ambitious thing she's done to date.[citation needed]

Collaborations

Besides her own work, White has also collaborated with a number of other artists. She co-wrote the title track for GZA's 1999 album Beneath the Surface, which featured Res.[44] She also co-composed and produced a majority of Res' album How I Do in 2001,[13] and later appeared on the song "Stay in Line" on GZA's 2002 album, Legend of the Liquid Sword.[45]

In 2007, White appeared on Mark Ronson's Version, performing on a cover of The Jam's "Pretty Green", in her first performance credited as Santogold. White co-wrote Lily Allen's "Littlest Things" with Ronson,[24] and co-composed for Ashlee Simpson with Kenna, including the lead single "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)".[46] In 2008, she recorded a song with N.E.R.D's Pharrell Williams and the Strokes' Julian Casablancas for Converse.[47] Santigold explained that the musicians recorded the song separately and did "their own separate thing," "so it ends up being just this weird long song with sort of everybody with lots of their own personalities separate."[48] The song, "My Drive Thru", was available for free on Converse's website.

That same year, a track called "Brooklyn Go Hard", produced by Kanye West, contained a sample of Santigold's track "Shove It".[49] It appeared on the soundtrack to the Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious.[50] The song was also released as a download via subscription to (RED)Wire, with a portion of the profits going towards Bono's Product Red organization.[51] "Brooklyn Go Hard" debuted on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at number 62.[52]

In 2009, she sang on the track "Whachadoin?" with M.I.A., the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, and Spank Rock for DJ collective N.A.S.A.'s debut album, The Spirit of Apollo,[53] as well as a song entitled "Gifted" with Kanye West and Lykke Li.[54] She then collaborated with Basement Jaxx's on their Scars album, adding her vocals to the song "Saga". Unstoppable with Drake and Lil Wayne.

In 2010, Santigold, alongside Switch and Sam Endicott of The Bravery, helped write the Christina Aguilera songs "Monday Morning" and "Bobblehead" for the album, Bionic. In 2011, she appeared on the Beastie Boys' album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, and was featured on the track "Don't Play No Game That I Can't Win". She also took part on the Lonely Island's 2011 album Turtleneck & Chain, lending her vocals to the track "After Party." White collaborated with Spank Rock on "Car Song", for his album Everything Is Boring and Everyone Is a Fucking Liar.

In 2012, Santigold was one of the guests on Amadou & Mariam's album, Folila, and featured on the track "Dougou Badia."[55] In 2013, she appeared on ASAP Rocky's debut album, Long. Live. ASAP featuring on the track, "Hell."

Style and influences

Santigold at Koko, London, August 2008

White has a mezzo-soprano vocal range,[56] and her style has been compared often to that of M.I.A.[57] In response to the comparison, White stated that they are both "women who have similar influences and have worked with some of the same people," but that her "music is different and she wasn't influenced by what the press was saying", adding:

"I can't think of anybody who would be a better fit of somebody who I'm like... I think what's accurate about that comparison is that she's an artist who has loads of different influences... and is putting things together in a way that's unexpected and genreless."[19][58] Santigold and her friend Amanda Blank have been described as being part of "a new crop of young, multicultural, female acts in the wake of M.I.A. causing a stir on the Internet and in indie-label conference rooms."[59]

White has also revealed her appreciation of new wave music,[19] saying that "My Superman" is an interpolation of a Siouxsie and the Banshees' song, "Red Light."[60] The singer has also stated that she is inspired by 1980s pop music, feeling that it "had a depth to it," and that she hopes to "bring back some more good pop songs."[19] The singer's main influences are James Brown and Aretha Franklin[61] and she has cited Devo as her "ultimate favorite band."[62] White also grew up listening to a lot of reggae, jazz, Fela Kuti and Nigerian music.[61]

Legacy

Australian singer-songwriter Kevin Mitchell, under the moniker of Bob Evans, stated that Santigold's work was an influence for the creation of his fourth album Familiar Stranger.[63] As part of his performance for the breakfast program of national Australian radio station Triple J in March 2013, Mitchell performed a rendition of Santigold's song "Disparate Youth"—the performance occurred during the conclusion of "O Week" activities (orientation week for Australian universities) at the ABC studios in Melbourne, Australia.[64]

Discography

Main article: Santigold discography

Studio albums

Singles

Awards and nominations

Year Type Award Result
2008 NME Awards USA Best Breakthrough Artist Won
Q Awards Best Breakthrough Artist Nominated
MTV Europe Music Awards Video Star ("L.E.S. Artistes") Nominated
2009 BRIT Awards International Female Solo Artist Nominated
ASCAP Pop Music Awards Vanguard Award Won

References

  1. ↑ Tamarra, Ray (September 15, 2005). "Perspective: Santi White". The Crusade. Retrieved July 10, 2010. 
  2. ↑ "Santogold". Biggeststars.com. Retrieved July 10, 2010. 
  3. ↑ Jones, Lucy (March 8, 2012). "Is Santigold's 'genreless' sound the future of pop music?". The Daily Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group. 
  4. ↑ Hintz, Katie (April 22, 2008). "Santogold: A Star Grows in Brooklyn". The Village Voice. Village Voice Media. Retrieved April 18, 2011. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lymangrover, Jason. "Santogold". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved March 7, 2008. 
  6. ↑ "Santogold mp3s, Santogold music downloads, Santogold songs from". eMusic.com. Retrieved July 10, 2010. 
  7. ↑ Micallef, Ken (2012-05-22). "Santigold: ORCHESTRATING "BAD" SOUNDS AND ROUGH EDGES ON "MASTER OF MY MAKE-BELIEVE"". E-Musician. Retrieved 2013-04-04. "White, a.k.a. Santigold, is practically a one-woman Wrecking Crew. Whether playing the drums, guitar, keyboards, or all of the instruments; co-writing with Q-Tip, TV on The Radio’s Dave Sitek, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O; or meshing multiple producers’ ideas until she hits paydirt, Santigold is a potent powerhouse of songwriting skill." 
  8. ↑ Michaels, Sean (February 12, 2009). "Santogold changes her name to Santigold". The Guardian. guardian.co.uk. Retrieved April 1, 2010. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Greenblatt, Leah. Santogold review Entertainment Weekly. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 18 October 2011.
  10. ↑ Sullivan, Caroline. (9 May 2008). CD: Santogold The Guardian. Retrieved 18 October 2011
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 Critcheloe, Cody (November 2011). "Black And Gold Santigold". V Magazine. Retrieved 2-1-2012. 
  12. ↑ Caldwell, Lindsey (January 30, 2007). "24 Carat". The Fader. Retrieved March 7, 2008. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Brian Hiatt (November 14, 2007). "Artist to Watch: Santogold". Rolling Stone. Wenner Publishing. Retrieved May 13, 2008. 
  14. ↑ Stiffed on Myspace
  15. ↑ Hogan, Marc (August 29, 2007). "New Music: Santogold: "You'll Find a Way (Switch & Graeme Remix)"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved March 7, 2008. 
  16. ↑ Sheperd, Julianne (January 27, 2008). "Hip-Hop’s Newest Faces: Indie, Fierce and Female". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). Retrieved March 7, 2008. 
  17. ↑ "Santogold Unleashes Her Genre-Bending Style". MTV. Viacom. January 11, 2008. Retrieved March 7, 2008. 
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Reilly, Phoebe (February 1, 2008). "Who's Next '08: Santogold". Spin. Retrieved March 7, 2008. 
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Samuel Strang (April 23, 2008). "Santo Claws: talking S1W, M.I.A. and Mark Ronson with Santogold". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved April 23, 2008. 
  20. ↑ "Singles of the Year". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. December 25, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 
  21. ↑ "Albums of the Year". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. December 25, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 
  22. ↑ Kamau High (April 25, 2008). "A twist of lime, indie music for beer launches". Reuters.com (Thomson Reuters). Retrieved April 28, 2008. 
  23. ↑ Todd Martens (April 15, 2008). "When bad beer happens to good artists". The Los Angeles Times (David Hiller, Tribune Company). Retrieved April 28, 2008. 
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Youngs, Ian (January 29, 2008). "Talking Shop: Santogold". BBC News (BBC). Retrieved March 7, 2008. 
  25. ↑ Mark Pytlik (29 July 2008). "Diplo / Santogold". Pitchfork. Pitchfork Media Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2013. 
  26. ↑ Priya Elan (5 September 2008). "Santogold Vs Diplo". NME. IPC Media Entertainment Network. Retrieved 15 March 2013. 
  27. ↑ Keith Caulfield and Silvio Pietroluongo (June 18, 2008). "Coldplay headed to No. 1 on Billboard 200, Hot 100". Billboard.com. Nielsen Company. Retrieved June 19, 2008. 
  28. ↑ Paul Thompson (September 3, 2008). "Santogold announces North American tour". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved September 3, 2008. 
  29. ↑ Malcolm Venable (October 26, 2008). "Jay-Z Charlottesville show more a celebration of hip-hop". The Virginian-Pilot. Landmark Communications. Retrieved October 26, 2008. 
  30. ↑ "Santogold added as Kanye West support". Hot Press. Niall Stokes. September 19, 2008. Retrieved September 19, 2008. 
  31. ↑ "Stars gear up for Electric Proms". BBC Radio 1 (BBC). October 22, 2008. Retrieved October 27, 2008. 
  32. ↑ Jonathan Cohen (October 14, 2008). "Beastie Boys add dates to swing state tour". Billboard.com. Nielsen Company. Retrieved October 26, 2008. 
  33. ↑ "Santigold - Pandora Internet Radio". Pandora.com. Retrieved April 18, 2011. 
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 Molly Brown (9 August 2009). "Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Santigold Rev Lollapalooza Day 2". Billboard.com. Retrieved 2012-1-28. 
  35. ↑ "New Tracks You Have To Hear This Week" NME. 3 May 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011
  36. ↑ Lipshutz, Jason. "Santigold Promises 'Dynamic, Powerful' Second Album This Fall". Billboard.com. 22 June 2011. Retrieved 18 October 2011
  37. ↑ "Santigold debuts new song 'Big Mouth' online". NME. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 2012-1-21. 
  38. ↑ 38.0 38.1 "New Santigold: "Disparate Youth"". Pitchfork.com. 20 February 2012. Retrieved 2012-2-21. 
  39. ↑ Pelly, Jenn (21 February 2012). "Santigold Album Gets Release Date". Pitchfork.com. Retrieved 2012-2-21. 
  40. ↑ "Master of My Make-Believe - Critics Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved 14 May 2012. 
  41. ↑ Jason Siu (27 December 2012). "2013 Honda Civic Commercial Released – Video". Autoguide.com. VerticalScope Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2013. 
  42. ↑ "Direct Line - Take the Direct Line - Advert Details". TVAdMusic.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-09-08
  43. ↑ "Santigold playing Brooklyn show before Red Hot Chili Peppers tour (dates)". Brooklynvegan. 2 January 2012. Retrieved 12-1-2012. 
  44. ↑ "Beneath The Surface". Discogs. Zink Media, Inc. Retrieved May 23, 2008. 
  45. ↑ "Legend of the Liquid Sword". Discogs. Zink Media, Inc. Retrieved July 5, 2008. 
  46. ↑ Rashod Ollison (April 22, 2008). "Ashlee Simpson is back, as plastic as ever". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved April 23, 2008. 
  47. ↑ "The Strokes team up with Santogold". NME. IPC Media. May 16, 2008. Retrieved May 18, 2008. 
  48. ↑ Jason Gregory (May 15, 2008). "Exclusive: Santogold Records Song With The Strokes And Pharrell Williams". Gigwise.com. Retrieved May 18, 2008. 
  49. ↑ "Jay-Z samples Santogold for B.I.G. biopic". In the Mix. December 2, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 
  50. ↑ Shaheem Reid (December 3, 2008). "'Notorious' soundtrack details revealed: features Jay-Z, Jadakiss, Faith Evans, Biggie's Son". MTV News. MTV. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 
  51. ↑ "Jay-Z, Santogold, Killers, U2 launch new Red charity download service". NME. IPC Media. December 2, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 
  52. ↑ Jonathan Cohen (December 11, 2008). "Britney debuts big, but T.I. tops Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Company. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 
  53. ↑ Jonathan Cohen (October 8, 2008). "N.A.S.A. blasts off with Kanye, M.I.A., Waits". Billboard. Nielsen Company. Retrieved October 9, 2008. 
  54. ↑ Marc Hogan (December 11, 2008). "New Music: N.A.S.A. [ft. Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li]: "Gifted" [MP3]". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved December 11, 2008. 
  55. ↑ Peverelli, Benoit (6 January 2012). "Amadou & Mariam Enlist Santigold, TV on the Radio, Nick Zinner for New Album". Pitchfork. Retrieved 10-1-2012. 
  56. ↑ http://www.denverpost.com/entertainment/ci_9044816
  57. ↑ "Santogold - Top Ranking [Mixed by Diplo] (staff review)". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved April 18, 2011. 
  58. ↑ "Santogold Interview". ITN Music YouTube. April 9, 2008. Retrieved November 9, 2008. 
  59. ↑ Shepherd, Julianne (January 27, 2008). "www.nytimes.com". www.nytimes.com. Retrieved April 18, 2011. 
  60. ↑ "Icon: Siouxsie", The Fader Magazine, The Icon Issue 67, April/May 2010. Page 73. Santigold: "I keep a Rolodex of the women that vocally inspire me. There aren't that many, but she's definitely one of them. I remember one of the first times I heard "Red Light" it was at a party, and I remember going up to the DJ and being like, "Who's this?". It was that good. I kind of stopped and was like... wow. There's not a tremendous amount of women who are bold and forward thinking as artists. I feel like her music, at the time especially, was pretty unique in the way that it sort of matched her style. The freedom of experimenting with this dark place that doesn't have a place often in modern music."
  61. ↑ 61.0 61.1 "Santi achieves gold standard". Birmingham Mail. Trinity Mirror. May 23, 2008. Retrieved May 26, 2008. 
  62. ↑ "Q&A with Santogold The Vanderbilt Hustler November 17, 2008". Insidevandy.com. November 17, 2008. Retrieved April 18, 2011. 
  63. ↑ Denham Sadler (4 January 2013). "We chat with Bob Evans". Tone Deaf. Tone Deaf. Retrieved 15 March 2013. 
  64. ↑ triplejtv (6 March 2013). "Like A Version: Bob Evans - Disparate Youth (Santigold cover)" (Video upload). YouTube. Google, Inc. Retrieved 15 March 2013. 

Further reading

External links

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