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 05 July 2008 05:22 BST

Santogold: Like my music, I'm hard to pin down to one genre

Monday, 12 May 2008 17:46
Santogold says Mark Ronson is "pop, for real".
Having made the top ten of the BBC's Sound of 2008 list - the same roster topped by British hopefuls Adele and Duffy - Brooklyn songstress Santogold is set for huge things in the next 12 months.

Ahead of the release of her new album, inthenews.co.uk's Lewis Bazley caught up with Santi White - the "gold" part of the name comes from her penchant for hoop earrings - to talk about the Brooklyn music scene, Mark Ronson and being tipped for the top.

Hi Santi, how are you?

I'm good, but I'm a bit sick today.

Is that because of being in England?

I was sick already, I just came straight from Mexico, I got sick there. And then I had a video shoot yesterday, and I outside in the freezing cold all day in just a t-shirt, and on a horse, and I'm allergic to horses. So I'm not good today! (laughs)

So is this your first time in the UK since your show at the Hoxton Bar and Grill in December?

No, I think I was here like two weeks ago.

You were named in the top ten of the BBC's list of acts who'll break through this year - is that pressurising or is just a nice honour to have?

I think it's a nice honour to have. Not just that, but all the hype before the record was even done was a bit of pressure, because I thought 'it has to be good', but I'm like that anyway, I'm completely obsessive-compulsive about stuff and a bit of a perfectionist.

How much do you know about the other artists on the lists, people like Adele, Duffy, Vampire Weekend?

I know a bit about Vampire Weekend. But when I say 'I know a bit' about things, I'm not like a music journalist or a music geek, that means I've like heard a song or two. I've heard Adele a little bit, I performed a song at a thing with Mark Ronson that she did a song at too, and I heard one Duffy song the other day. The same names have been thrown around a lot so I've heard of everyone, but maybe only heard their music a little bit.

Vampire Weekend are a Brooklyn band as well, as you sort of are - is that an exciting scene to be part of?

Everyone says that there's a Brooklyn music scene, but I don't think... I mean, New York is New York, and there's always on the east coast a bunch of people coming through New York all the time. And because all the really cool shows take place in New York, people call it the 'New York music scene', but mostly the people I hang out with aren't from New York right now, but they're always in New York, at my house! (laughs) But I don't know Vampire Weekend, I only heard them when I was over at Kyp from TV on the Radio's house, and he loves them, so maybe they're in his New York music scene! (laughs)

Would you consider yourself a New Yorker?

I do consider myself a New Yorker, I've lived there for eight years on and off so I definitely identify with the city a lot.

But you grew up in Philly…

Well, I identify with Philly a lot too.

And you were the only black kid in your school when you grew up, right?

I was the only black kid in my grade, not the whole school.

Is an experience like that formative when it comes to your music?

I think definitely. At an early age, I knew that I wasn't just like everyone around me and at an early age, decided that I didn't care! (laughs) I made friends immediately and honestly, the friends that I made when I was five years old, are still my best friends today. I mean, by third grade there were other black kids in the class. But I think I learned, early on, that I was who I was and I was going to choose my friends based on who I wanted.

And then you went to Quaker school?

It was more of the same there, at that point I thought 'I want to be an original person' and at Quaker school, they were always pushing you to think for yourself. I went to public school for one year because I wanted to and that was the year I wanted to fit in with everybody, be a flag girl, have the haircut and the cool earrings, so I pushed my parents to send me there - didn't learn anything! (laughs)

At all?

I learned socially so much in that one year. But in all of those years, I learned how to think for myself and strive to be individual.

It's probably fair to say that it's difficult to pin your music down to one genre - is that deliberate on your part?

As my music is hard to pin down to one genre, I am hard to pin down to one thing. My music is very reflective of my history. I've had loads of different influences - it's very true to who I am, my music.

If you had to describe yourself as one kind of artist, whether it be dance or hip-hop or pop, which would you say?

If I had to, like someone's gonna murder me...

Yeah, gun to your head...

I'd say pop, because anything can be pop.

But do you think the meaning of 'pop' has been ruined? It means something different now that it did 20 years ago.

Well, then I'm bringing that back. You didn't say I had to say what I meant! (laughs) 'Pop' to me is a blanket word, anything can be pop. I write songs that are accessible to all different people. I wrote hooks and melodies that are catchy, within a song structure that fits on the radio, so it's pop! (laughs)

Of all the influences in your life, who has been the biggest, musically?

Devo. HR from Bad Brains, or Bad Brains in general. And Nina Simone.

Who are you listening to at the moment?

Not much (laughs). I've been listening to Bronski Beat, Simian Mobile Disco. But these are like songs that I've been listening to, like Smalltown Boy by Bronski Beat and Hustler by Simian Mobile Disco, Down Boy by Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Freaky Girl by Gucci Mane.

Having worked with Ronson - what is it about people like him and Timbaland that means everything they touch seems to turn into a hit?

I think that Mark's taking a creative approach to pop; Timbaland is taking the formula approach. It's worked for a really long time, but I think people are getting sick of it. But Mark is pop, for real.

Lewis Bazley

Santogold's self-titled debut album is out now.

Watch the video for LES Artistes below:


To visit Santogold's MySpace page, click hereEnd of story


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