The Story
Santi White, born in Philadelphia, worked inside the music industry before stepping in front of it — doing A&R work at Epic Records, singing in the punk band Stiffed, and writing and producing most of Res's 2001 debut album How I Do. Her own solo debut, released in 2008 as Santogold, collapsed new wave, reggae, punk and dancehall into a sound that didn't sit still.
In 2009, she changed her stage name from Santogold to Santigold, a change that has stuck for every release since. The music itself kept the same restlessness: Master of My Make-Believe (2012), 99¢ (2016) and Spirituals (2022) each moved the sound in a different direction without smoothing out the edges.
Beyond her own records, White has written for other artists — including co-writing songs on Christina Aguilera's Bionic and Ashlee Simpson's Bittersweet World — and toured supporting M.I.A., Björk, Jay-Z and Kanye West early in her career, before headlining on her own.
She's continued to work across mediums, including scoring and appearing in projects like the film Witness, while keeping the sound of each new Santigold record distinct from the last.
