What happens when a college educated woman from the streets of Philadelphia studies Caribbean and West African drumming?
In 2002, Santogold produced, wrote, and arguably inspired the vision behind Res’s cult classic – “How I Do.” (Sidebar: Her concert last week was not impressive because the band played the same reggae ska beat on the 5 songs performed).
In 2008, Santogold’s release her self-titled debut, which is the arguably the perfect blend of new wave, electronica, rock, hip-hip drums, punk, and rhythm.
This is a partially biased review because I loved “How I Do.” “L.E.S. Artistes” (video above) is an example how she takes “How I Do” to the next level.
At times, it may have sound like Santogold took a page out of M.I.A.’s “Kala” album. For instance, her American single “The Creator” could have easily been performed by either artist. This isn’t a bad thing…I simply compare it to how R&B producers and writers work with the same artists (think The Dream, Ne-Yo, etc.) to spread their sound. It’s good to see the same trends are appearing in the evolving genre of mash-up world music. “The Creator” may be too much for American audiences, but her reggae influenced “Shove It” has the potential to catch a spark.
Popmatters.com stated that the production crews included “snowboarders, electronic and dub-based producers like Squeeze and Diplo and sounding like what happens when London, Jamaica, Brooklyn, Philly and an old school Hindi film soundtrack explode out of a Nintendo set, Santogold’s self-titled first album is ska resurrected, punk retooled, drum and base repossessed and pop reborn.” Please come with an open mind…Santogold receives thehonorable’s seal of approval.
MySpace - http://www.myspace.com/santogold
How does the HM audience feel about this emerging genre of music? How does Santogold’s sound resonate with you? Do you appreciate something different from the saturated hip-hop/R&B world? What do you think of the songs posted above?
Posted by thehonorable
Reecie
thehonorable
Its nice to hear a artist make music she feels, and hope that others like her sound.
Because rap has totally went pop(a record company decides if you have street creed WTH) and r&b singers do little singing. I say give ole girl a chance.
LOVE THIS CHICK. Good shit TheHonorable, nice to see you getting back into these posts with some influential sound!
The video is crazy! When I first saw this a couple months ago I totally wasn’t expecting this judging from the picture. Love it.
Santogold is great, unlike the grammar on this blog. What the fuck is up with that first sentence? Do you proofread before you post, or does Honorable Mention not really care about its content actually making sense to its audience? Here’s a question: What happens when there the blog cant what learn English good idiot, right? It’s hard to big up artists when the message isn’t even getting across. I guess thats the difference between an Honorable Mention, and first place.
oh man i love her! i saw her in concert in December she opened for MIA
Bobby - Thanks for the hate.
>What the fuck is up with that first sentence?
I have no clue. I fucked that one up.
>Do you proofread before you post, or does Honorable Mention not really care about its content actually making sense to its audience?
No, I did not proofread this particular post. I just anxiously pulled the trigger.
Yes, I do care about the content on the blog. I should have proofread.
BTW, thanks for the heads up, but the name of the blog is HONORABLE MEDIA! Oh, if that was a diss, I guess it was cute.
>What happens when there the blog cant what learn English good idiot, right?
“What the fuck is up with that…sentence?” Yea, I think we suffer from the same problem. Or were you trying to be cute again?
The post has been corrected and updated. Thanks for pointing out the grammatical errors. Next time, I will proofread before hitting “publish.”
i actually she thought she was from the uk. anyways i glad that she has returned. i recall hearing her from mark ronsons lp correct me if i am wrong. i will reserve my judgment till i pick up a copy this saturday. im loving shove it, starstruck, anne and les artistes -this track sounds so familiar like i recall hearing something very similar in 2002. i dont think too many people are capable of putting out an international sound such as this without coming off totally banal - her tenacity and personality are clear winners in my book.
very clever insightful video…i wonder who the director is and whether she is british because the majority of art coming our of london at the moment has an emphasis on performance art…tracey emin, lucas, mcgowan
You know I wondered who did that track over here in the UK theres this advert for VO5 hair shampoo and “The creator” was in the background.
Great but a bit similar to M.I.A. but her music sounds good.
Hey, not to stay on this editing tip, but I believe the song is called “Creator,” and not “The Creator.” First heard it on Entourage: the fourth season finale, when they are hitting the red carpet!
Bobby! You have the personality of a toad!
Thanks for the musical insight…you should post more thehonorable.
one thing id immediately noticed was how short each songs is, when your looking to go on a journey with an artist adn she’s building the tension and lyric with each song (you’ll find a way + the remix (i prefer the remix) and then suddenly the track drops out into obscurity, you’re left with a lot to be desired. im felt that way listening to this record. tracks such as the sublime anthemn of lights out, unstoppable and starstruck could have all been a little longer for me…i would like to have seen more free instrumentation, stripped down acoustics and more emotiveness. i wouldnt go so far as calling it an all out perfect record but it does have its share of eccentric highlights of bastard pop and electro rock - the amazing electro-funk of les artistes, the new wave im your lady, the outlandish anne, and the garage ragga-style of shove it.
The Miracle - Thanks for the heads up. It’s called “Creator” on iTunes, but I guess it was tagged wrong in my iPhone.
Vic - Great observation. I like the balance between her presence on the track and the layered sounds presented. Her and the production are a team. I think too much of Santogold’s voice would be annoying. As soon as I think about her voice, the music changes up or the song is over. Hence, why I think it’s a great blend. I do concur - more free instrumentation would be good - great description on what you’d like to see because I am curious. Do you have any examples?
Also, her songs fall in between 3.5 minutes to 4.5 minutes, which should be enough time to get the point across. Being that we have been spoiled with the 5 minute single, 1.5 minutes is alot to be desired.
Monk - Thanks! I’ll try to post more. I think my new angle is introducing new alternative styles of music, despite the fact that this blog focuses and discusses hip-hop, r&B, political, and pop culture.
its a dichotomy. what would u class her as thehonorable? i would say she is a hip hop artist first and foremost, because thats where the turntablism and the mash-up genre bashing come into play and the way in which she interchanges her flow, yeah she does get annoying on some of the tracks, the instrumentation can get chaotic and convoluted, thats the magic of mash-ups and its achilles heel, its an acquired taste. i would to see her hook up with dangermouse, depeche mode or bobby martini. i still on the fence with this girl. im not totally blown away but there are glimpses of greatness. maybe i will have more listens to it to decipher the lyrics but i dont really know that much about the girl herself. its interesting with mash-up and sampling because it opens a whole realm of legal questions, its an underground phenomenon, many of which havent been answered, like in todays world, the war on the pandemic globalisation of digital musical is totally misguided (contrary to popular belief, free digital music downloads actually increase CD sales), countries and recording industries seek short-term solutions rather than working collobaratively with artists and consumers, focusing only on the possibility of reduced profits. it will be interesting what comes to play in the next few years regarding this type of genre because it has the capacity to stifle a creativity which will affect all the way down from your major established artists or djs, to the indie ones and to the bedroom djs who just flip a track out of fun - its all a learning process. she can still maintain her independence yet still reach out to known producers.
plus dude i known its been mentioned a million times but u need to make more posts asap
as far as examples go i would like to see her do something more melodic akin to australia’s own “jade macrae” - shes not a mash up artist more of a rnb/dance chick - check out her myspace if u havent noticed.
http://www.myspace.com/jademacraemusic
http://www.zshare.net/audio/113030302d7c5bcd/
http://www.zshare.net/audio/11303233142d8650/
http://www.zshare.net/audio/11303400d7ac35ef/
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1130391400a5d483/
http://www.zshare.net/audio/11303975081a8773/
http://www.zshare.net/audio/1130446664e7ac5b/
<3333 Santogold
She and M.I.A. are amaaazing.
Santogold is the real good shit. My sister first put me onto M.I.A. a while back and I kinda just got into Santogold by doing a lil research on her M.I.A.’s music.
Sounds like M.I.A.
I bought the album, sounds like hipster shit you have playing real low at a cocktail party. Honorable you should have ignored Bobby the only reason he posted was to get a response out of you (which worked). The only comment he made was negative he was just looking to spread negativity.
viciuzurban - thanks for the links. i wasnt feelin Jade as much as Santogold. Jade wasn’t as polish. But thank you for spreading the word…Jade is on my radar and i will keep looking out for her.
ddot - she sounds like M.I.A because she works with the same producers. similar to how Musiq, Mario, Mariah, Janet, Mary, etc. all sound alike because they work with Ne-Yo. But ddot - is that a bad thing? MIA is dope!
Mr. O - you’re right, but Bobby had a very good point. My grammar was HORRIBLE. I rushed it and didnt proofread. But he was rather negative…Thanks for the heads up, O!
Thank you for sharing Santogold with us. I recently read about her when she received rave reviews from Billboard.com (http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/content_display/reviews/albums/e3ibf22b3c56d51e863416c1914967bfaa
on her self-titled debut.
Honorable, I think it’s great that you took the high road in regards to Bobby’s post. We all make mistakes. To err is human. I appreciate that you corrected your mistake and moved on when it would have been much easier to lash out. A well known Indian politician and spiritual leader, Mahatma Gandhi once said, “Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.” Kudos and thanks for the blog!
This is hotness. The world sound is fucking crazy. I love it.