Blender: If Santi White were any more plugged in, she would short circuit. She has produced GZA and written a song for English miscreant Lily Allen. And the severe, sumptuous beatbox dub, punky reggae and black-lit new wave on her debut as Santogold is brought to you by a cast of many—outre producer Diplo, the former drummer for Bad Brains, several “legends” of high-end club music and a snowboarder who’s also White’s boyfriend. Beware the CD that includes a collaboration with a star of the Winter X Games.
Her great first single, “L.E.S. Artistes,” bristles against the chic world that adores her, and rides a taut guitar riff into Manhattan’s trendy Lower East Side to poke fun at suburban kids who revel in high-rent alienation. “I am an introvert, an excavator,” she pouts with a commitment that shows at least a little empathy. Sure, this former record-industry talent scout knows lots of fabulous people, but she’s her own girl. Santogold bursts with the arrogance of a world-beating hip-hop debut while thriving on vulnerability. “Creator” is a squelching march-time banger with a brash speed-demon rap, and an album-closing remix of the vaguely No Doubt–ish “You’ll Find a Way” is fierce dancehall with the island sun sucked out. Santogold’s reflective, needy moments are even more arresting. Against chunky Cars guitars and a plaintive early-MTV synth, her shy come-on “Lights Out” is butterfly fragile. On the murderously slow “My Superman,” she pleads with a bad boyfriend like a blues mama in neon legwarmers. Frayed and hungry, rugged and sweet, bringing R&B sass (“I’m a lady”) over sad rock or rewriting Kanye West’s “Jesus Walks” in the voice of a screwed-up Catholic girl, Santogold remembers that the weird sounds she loves aren’t there just to fire up the underground. They exist to save underdogs as well—people like Santi White, and even the L.E.S. Artistes she knows so well.
CF Note: I've been so stuck on this for several days now. I skip the MIA mimicry and jump straight to the tight pop numbers.
Buy Santi Please
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