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Santigold

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Santigold

Santi White (born September 25, 1976), better known by her stage name Santigold (formerly Santogold),[7] is an American songwriter, producer, and singer. Her debut album Santogold was released in 2008.

Biography

Santi White attended Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and then later attended college at Wesleyan University, where she double-majored in Music and African-American studies. The artist got her pseudonym in the 1990s from a friend's nickname for her.[8] She worked for Epic Records as an A&R representative, but left the position to write and executive produce How I Do, the debut album from the singer Res.[9]

Santigold was the singer of the Philadelphia-based punk rock band Stiffed,[10] whose 2003 album, Sex Sells, and 2005 album, Burned Again, were produced by Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer.[11] While in this group, she was offered a solo contract by Martin Heath of Lizard King Records.[12] Her initial singles "Creator" and "L.E.S. Artistes" received attention from Internet media in 2007.[13]

In February 2009, Santogold changed her stage name to Santigold,[14] as a result of infomercial jeweller Santo Gold threatening legal action.[15]

August 2008 at Koko, London

As Santogold/Santigold

Originally going by the stage name Santogold, Santi White changed this to Santigold in early 2009 for reasons related to a possible lawsuit from director Santo Victor Rigatuso, who produced the movie Santo Gold.[16] Working with fellow Stiffed member John Hill as co-producer, she recorded her debut album, Santogold, which was originally slated for release on Downtown Records in January 2008,[12] but was pushed back to April 2008.[17][18] The album (including its B-sides and remixes) features appearances or production work from Chuck Treece, Clifford "Moonie" Pusey of Steel Pulse, Diplo, Freq Nasty, Naeem Juwan of Spank Rock, Radioclit, Sinden, Switch, Trouble Andrew, and XXXchange.[19] Rolling Stone, Spin, and BBC all named Santogold an artist to watch in 2008.[9][18][20] The album's first singles, "Creator" and "L.E.S. Artistes", were both well received. "L.E.S. Artistes" placed at number two on Rolling Stone's Singles of the Year, behind Beyoncé's "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)",[21] while the album Santogold was sixth on their albums of the year list.[22] "Creator", along with "Lights Out",[23] has appeared in commercials for Bud Light Lime in the United States,[24][25] and VO5 hair products in the United Kingdom. Similarly, "You'll Find A Way" was featured in the EA Sports video game, FIFA 08, with "L.E.S. Artistes" featured in some versions of its sister game NHL 08 and "Creator" featured in NBA 2k9. Her songs can also be heard in commercials for the Ford Flex. Her song "Say Aha" was featured in a Zune-Arts video. Her song Shove It feat. Spank Rock was Featured in the ending of the Gossip Girl Season 2 Episode "The Ex-Files".

Santi has toured with M.I.A., Björk, and Architecture in Helsinki.[19] In June 2008, Coldplay announced that Santogold would be their opening act for most of the stops on the North American leg of their Viva la Vida Tour.[26] Santogold embarked on her first headlining tour in September and October 2008.[27] The Goldrush Tour featured dates across North America.[28] After the tour's completion, Santogold supported Jay-Z and Kanye West on a number of their shows.[29][30] Additionally, Santogold supported The Streets at BBC's Electric Proms,[31] and she performed at certain dates of Beastie Boys' Get Out and Vote '08 tour.[32] Santigold's performance in May 2009 at the Sasquatch! Music Festival was highlighted by a viral video in which a man dancing to her music inspired a large crowd to join him.[33] This video including her music was subsequently featured in a TED conference talk by Derek Sivers on leadership.[34]

Collaborations

Santi White co-wrote the title track for GZA's 1999 album Beneath the Surface, which featured Res.[35] Santi went on to co-write and produce a majority of Res' album How I Do in 2001.[9] White later appeared on the song "Stay in Line" on GZA's 2002 album, Legend of the Liquid Sword (album).[36]

White also appeared on Mark Ronson's 2007 album Version, performing on a cover of The Jam's "Pretty Green", in her first performance credited as Santogold. Santi co-wrote Lily Allen's "Littlest Things" with Ronson.[25] She also co-wrote songs for Ashlee Simpson with Kenna, including the lead single "Outta My Head (Ay Ya Ya)".[37]

Santigold recorded a song with N.E.R.D's Pharrell Williams and The Strokes' Julian Casablancas for Converse.[38] Santi told Gigwise.com that they 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."[39] The song, "My Drive Thru", was available for free on Converse's website.

In the future, Santigold will be working with Beastie Boys and David Byrne.[40] White revealed to NME that she "may also do something with Jay-Z, it's kind of secret - it's not for anything, it's just 'cause we want to."[40] The collaboration, "Brooklyn Go Hard", was produced by Kanye West and contains a sample of Santigold's track "Shove It"; she also contributes a new verse.[41] It appears on the soundtrack to The Notorious B.I.G. biopic Notorious.[42] 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.[43] "Brooklyn Go Hard" debuted on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs at number 62.[44]

Santigold, alongside Switch and Sam Endicott of The Bravery, helped write the Christina Aguilera song "Monday Morning" and "Bobblehead" for Aguilera's album Bionic.

She also appears on a song entitled "Whachadoin?" with M.I.A., Nick Zinner, and Spank Rock for DJ collective N.A.S.A.'s debut album, The Spirit of Apollo,[45] as well as a song entitled "Gifted" with Kanye West and Lykke Li.[46] Basement Jaxx's Scars also features vocals from Santi on the song "Saga".

Artistry

Santigold at Eurockéennes, July 5, 2008

White's style has been compared often to that of Yeah Yeah Yeahs, No Doubt, M.I.A., and Missing Persons.[11][47][48] White said of the M.I.A. comparison 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][49] 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."[50] Some of Santigold's material has been compared to that of Pixies,[47] who Santigold herself has cited as an influence.[19] Santigold has also said that she is inspired by 1980s pop music. "I felt that a lot of pop music from the '80s had a depth to it, and I hope to bring back some more good pop songs."[19] White also stated her liking for New Wave[19] and added that "My Superman" is based on a Siouxsie and the Banshees' song, "Red Light".[51] The singer also cites Blondie, Grace Jones, Devo – whom she describes as her "ultimate favorite band",[52] Fela Kuti, James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and reggae music as influences.[53][54]

In a May 2008 interview, White stated that critics and online music vendors were labeling her music as hip hop, rap, and R&B because she is black, saying that it was racist. "Everyone is just so shocked that I don't like R&B. Are you shocked that Good Charlotte isn't into R&B? Why does R&B keep coming into my interviews? It's pissing me off. I didn't grow up as a big fan of R&B and, like, what is the big shocker? It's stupid." [55][56][57]

Discography

Main article: Santigold discography

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. ^ ":: The Crusade vrs 3.0 :: #!/usr/nyc/bin/the business/". Thecrusade.net. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  2. ^ "Santogold - Biography, pictures, photos, photo, images, latest news, horoscope, lyrics, photo gallery, links". Biggeststars.com. 1976-09-25. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  3. ^ a b [1][dead link]
  4. ^ [2][dead link]
  5. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/ /artist_to_watch_santogold
  6. ^ "Santogold mp3s, Santogold music downloads, Santogold songs from". eMusic.com. Retrieved 2010-07-10.
  7. ^ Michaels, Sean (2009-02-12). "Santogold changes her name to Santigold". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  8. ^ Caldwell, Lindsey (2007-01-30). "24 Carat". The Fader. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  9. ^ a b c Brian Hiatt (2007-11-14). "Artist to Watch: Santogold". Rolling Stone. Wenner Publishing. Retrieved 2008-05-13.
  10. ^ Template:Myspace
  11. ^ a b Hogan, Marc (2007-08-29). "New Music: Santogold: "You'll Find a Way (Switch & Graeme Remix)"". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  12. ^ a b Lymangrover, Jason. "Biography". Allmusic. All Media Guide. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  13. ^ Sheperd, Julianne (2008-01-27). "Hip-Hop's Newest Faces: Indie, Fierce and Female". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  14. ^ "Santogold is now Santigold."
  15. ^ "Santo Gold Sues Santogold". idiomag. 2009-02-13. Retrieved 2009-02-13.
  16. ^ http://www.pandora.com/music/artist/santigold
  17. ^ "Santogold Unleashes Her Genre-Bending Style". MTV. Viacom. 2008-01-11. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  18. ^ a b Reilly, Phoebe (2008-02-01). "Who's Next '08: Santogold". Spin. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  19. ^ a b c d e f Samuel Strang (2008-04-23). "Santo Claws: talking S1W, M.I.A. and Mark Ronson with Santogold". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  20. ^ "Sound of 2008: The Top 10". BBC News. BBC. 2008-01-04. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  21. ^ "Singles of the Year". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  22. ^ "Albums of the Year". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. 2008-12-25. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  23. ^ Kamau High (2008-04-25). "A twist of lime, indie music for beer launches". Reuters.com. Thomson Reuters. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  24. ^ Todd Martens (2008-04-15). "When bad beer happens to good artists". The Los Angeles Times. David Hiller, Tribune Company. Retrieved 2008-04-28.
  25. ^ a b Youngs, Ian (2008-01-29). "Talking Shop: Santogold". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2008-03-07.
  26. ^ Keith Caulfield and Silvio Pietroluongo (2008-06-18). "Coldplay headed to No. 1 on Billboard 200, Hot 100". Billboard.com. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2008-06-19.
  27. ^ "Santogold launches headlining run". Pollstar. Associated Press. 2008-09-03. Retrieved 2008-09-03. [dead link]
  28. ^ Paul Thompson (2008-09-03). "Santogold announces North American tour". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2008-09-03.
  29. ^ Malcolm Venable (2008-10-26). "Jay-Z Charlottesville show more a celebration of hip-hop". The Virginian-Pilot. Landmark Communications. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  30. ^ "Santogold added as Kanye West support". Hot Press. Niall Stokes. 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  31. ^ "Stars gear up for Electric Proms". BBC Radio 1. BBC. 2008-10-22. Retrieved 2008-10-27.
  32. ^ Jonathan Cohen (2008-10-14). "Beastie Boys add dates to swing state tour". Billboard.com. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
  33. ^ "Sasquatch music festival 2009 - Guy starts dance party". YouTube. 2009-05-26. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  34. ^ "Derek Sivers: How to start a movement". TED. 2010-04-01. Retrieved 2010-04-01.
  35. ^ "Beneath The Surface". Discogs. Zink Media, Inc. Retrieved 2008-05-23.
  36. ^ "Legend of the Liquid Sword". Discogs. Zink Media, Inc. Retrieved 2008-07-05.
  37. ^ Rashod Ollison (2008-04-22). "Ashlee Simpson is back, as plastic as ever". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  38. ^ "The Strokes team up with Santogold". NME. IPC Media. 2008-05-16. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  39. ^ Jason Gregory (2008-05-15). "Exclusive: Santogold Records Song With The Strokes And Pharrell Williams". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 2008-05-18.
  40. ^ a b "Santogold working with Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, Roots Manuva". NME. IPC Media. 2008-07-22. Retrieved 2008-10-04.
  41. ^ "Jay-Z samples Santogold for B.I.G. biopic". In the Mix. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  42. ^ Shaheem Reid (2008-12-03). "'Notorious' soundtrack details revealed: features Jay-Z, Jadakiss, Faith Evans, Biggie's Son". MTV News. MTV. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  43. ^ "Jay-Z, Santogold, Killers, U2 launch new Red charity download service". NME. IPC Media. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  44. ^ Jonathan Cohen (2008-12-11). "Britney debuts big, but T.I. tops Hot 100". Billboard. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  45. ^ Jonathan Cohen (2008-10-08). "N.A.S.A. blasts off with Kanye, M.I.A., Waits". Billboard. Nielsen Company. Retrieved 2008-10-09.
  46. ^ Marc Hogan (2008-12-11). "New Music: N.A.S.A. [ft. Kanye West, Santogold & Lykke Li]: "Gifted" [MP3]". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
  47. ^ a b Hintz, Katie (2008-04-22). "Santogold: A Star Grows In Brooklyn". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2008-04-23.
  48. ^ "Santogold". Chicago Sun-Times.
  49. ^ "Santogold Interview". ITN Music YouTube. 2008-04-09. Retrieved 2008-11-09.
  50. ^ www.nytimes.com
  51. ^ Hresko, Lisa (2008-04-28). "SANTOGOLD: All That Glitters Is Santogold". CMJ. "'My Superman' is an interpolation of a Siouxsie Sioux song, 'Red Light,'" she explains. "It was inspired by that [song]."
  52. ^ Q&A with Santogold The Vanderbilt Hustler November 17, 2008
  53. ^ "Santi achieves gold standard". Birmingham Mail. Trinity Mirror. 2008-05-23. Retrieved 2008-05-26.
  54. ^ "Ep. 8". FNMTV. Season 1. MTV. {{cite episode}}: Unknown parameter |serieslink= ignored (|series-link= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |seriesno= ignored (|series-number= suggested) (help)
  55. ^ "Santogold dubs 'hip-hop' comparisons racist". NME. IPC Media. 2008-05-19. Retrieved 2008-05-21.
  56. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (2008-05-23). "Santogold talks race, age and being 'a bitch'". The Lipster. Retrieved 2008-09-12.
  57. ^ Nicholson, Rebecca (2008-05-19). "Santogold and the genre problem". The Lipster. Retrieved 2008-05-21.

Further reading

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