" This is gold - Santogold! "
July 29th 2008 02:45
Santi White has been called a lot of things lately. Aside from her alter ego Santogold, music junkies have pinned her as “M.I.A who can actually sing”. A big call to make, but there is no doubt this Philadelphian native has a lot to say. The real question lies however with whether we are ready for her or not.
While Santogold may share the same producers as the infamous M.I.A, no one has been able to pull off the outrageous sounds of chaos that she naturally produces. White draws her influences from grimy analog sounds, electro and punk. This eclectic but natural progression of sound may have something to do with her equally broad background in music. Santi White started off working for Epic Records after graduating from music school. From there she started producing records, which then evolved into writing lyrics and after being frustrated with her songs not being performed how they were made to be, she decided to take to the mic herself. While her frustration may just sound like another whining lyricist, after hearing White in action you realise that no one else could possible match the organised conundrum of sound that is Santogold.
The raw energy and catchy off beat tunes of Santogold are envied by the likes of Mark Ronson who recently stated to Rolling Stone that he was jealous of her ability to completely abandon mainstream expectations of what music should be. While it’s one thing to say such a comment, you need only to listen to one of Santogold’s creations to understand the extent of her abandonment. ‘Creator’ from her debut album opens with African drumming and Santogold’s voice literally sliding like it’s being dragged up the neck of an electric guitar. The song then bangs into rapping with a layer of electro whirring happening somewhere close by.
It doesn’t seem logical for someone to attempt making such sounds mesh, but that’s the beauty of Santogold, there is no logical reason behind her sound. No one sums up the magic of Santi better than herself, recently telling Australia’s J-Mag “You can tell when someone is in it. It comes out of a place; they’re not thinking about what would be the proper note for this progression.. it’s almost like your spirit comes out of your mouth. That’s what I’m striving towards.”
Santogold’s lyrics however have every intention of making their mark. Her most well known song L.E.S Artistes was created shortly after the death of her father, and details her attempt at throwing herself back into reality and life. After moving to New York to start over again, you can hear the pain in Santogold’s voice when she sings the chorus “I can say I hope it will be worth what I give up”. Looking through the lyrics on paper you sense the sadness in her, but the song is mostly delivered with a punchy air of defiance. She even manages to slice down the pretentious bullshit of New York:
Build me up, bring me down
just leave me out you name dropper
Stop tryin to catch my eye
I see you good you forced faker
Just make it easy
You're my enemy you fast talker
Santogold’s genius cannot be accurately described by writing or reviews. So what are you waiting for?
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Comment by Megan Kennedy
Rookie Error
with the wilcanya mob...
fo sho i was
tres impressive stef-juan