Santigold

Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold ), is an American singer and songwriter.

Santi White was born on September 25, 1976, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to parents Ron White, an advisor to mayor John F. Street and Aruby Odom-White, a psychiatrist.

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

Santi has described herself as “super-social and a connector of people” in her youth, growing up in Philadelphia.

She obtained her pseudonym in the 1990s after a friend gave it to her as a nickname.

She worked for Epic Records as an A&R representative but left the position to co-write and executive produce HowIDo, the singer Res's debut album.

She was the singer of Philadelphia-based punk rock band Stiffed, which released the EP Sex Sells (2003) and the album Burned Again (2005).

Both record were produced by Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer.

While in the band, White was offered a solo contract by Martin Heath of London-based independent label Lizard King Records.

Her first singles as a soloist ("Creator" and "L.E.S. Artistes") received attention from Internet media outlets in 2007, and her debut album Santogold, conceived with fellow Stiffed member John Hill, was issued in April 2008.

The record featured appearances and production work from Chuck Treece, Diplo, Switch, and Jonnie "Most" Davis, among others.

Blending a variety of musical genres ranging from new wave to alternative rock and reggae, the album was very well received by critics upon release and was noted for its "cross-genre confidence".

Santogold was critically acclaimed by both Entertainment Weekly and Spin, while "L.E.S. Artistes" made the number 2 position on Rolling Stone's "Singles of the Year" list.

Santogold was sixth on the magazine's "Albums of the Year" list.

"Creator", along with "Lights Out", appeared in commercials in the US and the UK.

Her debut studio album, Santogold (2008), received widespread critical acclaim for its cross-genre combining dub, new wave, and hip-hop.

The album's second single "L.E.S. Artistes", reached the top 40 in the UK Singles Chart.

Her awards include "Best Breakthrough Artist" at the 2008 NME Awards, and the "Vanguard award" at 2009 ASCAP Awards.

During the summer of 2008, she released a mixtape CD, Top Ranking: A Diplo Dub, that was well received by Pitchfork and NME.

To support Santogold, she toured with M.I.A. and Björk, and in June 2008, Coldplay invited her to be their opening act in the US.

Her own US tour was called Goldrush Tour, and upon its completion, she supported Jay-Z and Kanye West on a number of their shows and The Streets at BBC's Electric Proms music festival.

She finished the tour opening for Beastie Boys for three concerts on their get-out-the-vote Swing State Tour.

In February 2009, she 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 film Santo Gold's Blood Circus.

She finished the second leg of the tour in August 2009 at the Lollapalooza Festival in Chicago with Billboard noting that she "delivered a bright set and drew a headliner-sized audience" for a late afternoon concert.

Before leaving the stage, she announced she was preparing to write her next album.

In 2011, Santigold 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".

Her second album, Master of My Make-Believe (2012), peaked at number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart: it included "Disparate Youth", her highest-charting single to date.

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.

She described Master of My Make-Believe as "sonically eclectic but with some epic curveballs thrown into the mix".

She 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." "Big Mouth", the first track and video from the album was issued in late January as a free download. In February, an animated video for "Disparate Youth" was uploaded to her official YouTube channel. 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.

Master of My Make-Believe was released in late April to critical acclaim.

"Disparate Youth" was featured in a December 2012 advertisement for the 2013 Honda Civic and a piano version of the song was used in a 2012-13 ad for Direct Line insurance.

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.

In May and June, she headlined her own US shows before a summer European tour.

She released her third album, 99¢, in 2016, and her second mixtape, I Don't Want: The Gold Fire Sessions, in 2018.

Her fourth studio album Spirituals (2022), including the singles "High Priestess" and "Ain't Ready", received favorable reviews; The Guardian described it as a "whirlwind album full of feeling and fervour".

Additionally, Santigold has collaborated with artists including Beastie Boys, JAY-Z, Kanye West, David Byrne, Mark Ronson, Karen O, ASAP Rocky, and Diplo.