The citrousy crusades of Santigold have found her stepping confidently into a steaming hot bar central to Cancun, she turns to the tattered jukebox, the sweat from her palms is enough lubricant to cloak her fingers in dust as she inserts 10 of her 99c into the machine. Her zesty mezzo- soprano vocal range unapologetically circumvents the space around her. She splices her thoughts into a tightly knit cohesive brand of sunshine and shadows, where her joyous tone distracts you from the acute realism that is embedded in her lyrics. Notoriously difficult to categorise, Santigold dives deeper into the abyss that is ambiguity.
If Michiko is to the world, a misunderstood free- spirit, with very little room for compromise, and Hatchin, the driven, calculated wonder, then Santigold is both. Infectious and daring, combining the new age washy vocals of ILOVEMAKONNEN to create the convivial soon-to-be radio hit that is ‘Who Be Lovin’ Me’. She may by wearing trendy circular shades but she’s looking directly at you, prompting you to confront this oversaturated, narcissistic world we live in, where posting a picture of your face to three separate social media sites isn’t enough ecstasy to alleviate your growing paranoia of fitting in and/or standing out.
What can you get for 99c? You may ask. What is your worth? What is your price? Santigold quizzes instead, as she licks a baby pink strawberry ice cream clean, the shrills of a banshee electrify her sound, while the eerie dark crevices of consumerism are personified through the femme fatale known as the ‘Rendezvous Girl’. The art surrounding the album is a projection, a ‘what if’ scenario as the efforts of Santigold have been thwarted by big time media kingpins and the omnipotent ‘all money, no art’ figureheads of the music industry. Yet the music itself is catharsis from this exact scenario, as the universe continues in its failed attempts to pigeon- hole her, Santigold stands tall, encouraging you to pick yourself up and do the same.
zoid media 