Product Description

"The future of music, today" - Rolling Stone 10 Artists To Watch. "Singing in a haunting, sensual wail...she adds a layer of softness to an unusual mix of synthesizers, dance hall rhythms, and percolating new wave" - NY Times. "Future-pop princess...next big thing" - Spin. "Santi White is Santogold...the collaborators and players may change, the sounds may shift, but at the center is one woman's indelible vision" - The Fader. SXSW / Coachella shows, 2007 tours with Bjork, M.I.A., songs featured in Entourage, Grey's Anatomy, Grand Theft Auto.

Track Listing

1. L.E.S. Artistes
2. You'll Find A Way
3. Shove It
4. Say Aha
5. Creator
6. My Superman
7. Lights Out
8. Starstruck
9. Unstoppable
10. I'm A Lady
11. Anne
12. You'll Find A Way (remix)

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #151 in Music
• Released on: 2008-04-29
• Number of discs: 1

Amazon.co.uk
Don't call Santi White an R&B artist: on her debut album Santogold, this former music biz A&R and pop songwriter for hire is challenging race stereotypes and playing fast and loose with genre, mashing up dub, punk, and electronics to make an energetic, anger-fuelled music that blurs the lines between the dancefloor and the moshpit. Comparisons to MIA hold some water, especially on the bullish "Creator" (it's worth noting that Santogold features production turns from sometime MIA collaborators Diplo and Switch). For the most part, though, Santogold's debut follows a quite different path. "L.E.S Artists" is stirring new-wave pop that builds to grand, tearful choruses reminiscent of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, while "You'll Find a Way" and "Say Aha" are propulsive ska-pop numbers that hark back to its creator's previous band, Bad Brains-influenced punks Stiffed. But it's not just skilful genre-skipping to recommend this record, though: White is the rare vocalist that can sound empowered and vulnerable within the space of the same song, and it's her force of character that places Santogold ahead of the pack. --Louis Pattison

Customer Reviews

Pop Rock
Well this CD is not all that bad but the songs tend to have the same melody without little variation but if you like that kind of pop/rock. I tend to call these type of recordings pop/rock because the vocals sound more like a pop song but the music is more rockish. I am not really into this type of sound but I can relate but she is no Avril Lavine but her music could be compared to artist in that catagory.

love it
this is one of the best albums of 2008. i love that she is doing something different other than the r&b that most popular black american singers find themselves. she's so distinctive.

Decent, but needs to separate her inspiration from her actual identity.
After seeing the intriguing video for the equally excellent first single, "L.E.S. Artistes," I immediately pre-ordered this debut from Santogold and patiently waited for its release. When I finally heard it, I must admit that I was a bit disappointed. Almost all of the songs on this self-titled disc can abe neatly split up into two simple categories: there are the experimental, out-of-the-box tracks that are very much like what M.I.A. does, and then there are 80's-esque pop/rock songs that sound exactly like something Gwen Stefani would do. Quite honestly, there is not much more in between, meaning that this album mostly feels like it's full of impersonations and style-biting rather than new music by a new, fresh, talented, and creative artist. Santogold brushes off all the M.I.A. comparisons, and she accredits the similarity to working with some of the same producers (Switch and Diplo, mostly). But any discerning listener will hear that the similarities do not end at the production. Santogold snatches M.I.A.'s unique delivery with the slightly nasal, sorta-rapping-sorta-not thing. Although both excellent songs, the slinky and dark production on both "My Superman" and "Starstruck" are almost identical to that of Maya's "$20" off her last album, Kala. At the end of the latter, there is a continuous chant of "ay! ay! ay!" that is extremely reminiscent of the ending of "The Turn," also from Kala. And just don't get me started on "Creator." I could go on. Most of the rock songs are very stale, and--surprise!--they sound very dated. And when these tracks are good (the summery and breezy "Lights Out," which is the song featured on the new Bud Light Lime commercials), her unbearably whiny voice ruins the moment. The best songs on this collection are the genuinely unique "L.E.S. Artistes," the deliciously childish "Shove It," "My Superman," "Starstruck," the tick-tocking "Unstoppable" and the remix "You'll Find A Way". (The original rock version sound very off; the vocals and background don't match properly, in my opinion.) Overall, this is still a decent debut album with some very enjoyable tracks, and some others that aren't so great. The only problem is that she needs to sepaprate her identity from her inspiration; next time I want something that is one-hundred-percent Santogold. Not 80's pop/rock. Not Gwen Stefani. Not M.I.A. Just Santogold.