santogold - santogold

Santogold, Philadelphia-based singer Santi White, is arguably the most hyped new artist to hit the scene in 2008. I’d never heard of her until I suddenly found myself exhausted by endless blog posts, videos, and pictures. By the time her eponymous debut album came out on April 28, she was already on an Ipod commercial and the new Bud light beer had commissioned remixes of another song. She was touted as kind of an M.I.A. lite, an informed artist with a lot of personality and a never-ending supply of cool. And her lead single, “Creator” echoes the rhythmically charged candence and aggressive vocal delivery that makes M.I.A so galvanizing. Unfortunately for Santi White, her debut, though promising, lacks the continuity, authenticity, and substance to allow her to push through the hype.

“Santogold” seems crafted with maximum hit potential in mind, surveying an eclectic palette of new wave, post-punk, global hip-hop, and even reggae to increase its demographic range. While “Creator Main” is probably the strongest album track, it is also highly derivative, its cadence and vocal phrasing and global hip-hop aesthetic a perfect imitation of M.I.A. The song opens with what appears to be a bird call, the most creative use of synthetic sound in a song that relies on tired deejay tricks to add complexity and hipness to its foundation. Zig-zagging synthetic bass serves as the melodic backbone, while the vocal cadence and tin-like, clapping drums provide the song’s galvanizing rhythmic focus. “You’ll find a way” fits somewhere between eighties pop, authentic post-punk, and the modern revitalization post-punk a few years ago. Slick production, coy nasal vocals, and a surfeit of hooks reveal the song’s transparency as everything feels contrived and designed to sell. “Say Aha” is one of the album’s more original tracks, merging Afro-pop with R+B and eighties pop again, but the song’s multiple perspectives are a little unfocused and its overly affected vocals are obnoxious. “Lights out” sees White letting her guard down and going for a light, pop aesthetic. The song has the bright melody of 80s pop with 70s style guitar (the Cars come to mind). For the most directly pop song on the album, it feels the most natural, and like all good pop songs, its light aesthetic is infectious.

White has expressed indifference to selling out, and while, in contemporary times, selling the rights to one’s songs may be the only way to make a living, it seems White fashions her songs with economic success as her number one priority And it’s principally this lack of organic self-expression that prohibits her from rising above the masses.