10 Reasons Why 10 Years Later, Santigold Is Still A Modern Artistic Treasure

Santigold’s eponymous debut album turns 10 this year…

Ten years before the emergence of genre-bending African-American female artists like Kelela and SZA, Santigold — aka Philadelphia-born and later Brooklyn-based singer/songwriter Santi White — released an eponymous debut album in 2008 that set forth the archetype for a style, sound, and creative aesthetic reaching its pinnacle a decade later. In an interview preceding the album’s release, White noted to MTV that, “[I want to] help break down boundaries and genre classifications and show that I not just a black woman singing R&B.” Singular albums often are lauded for “changing the history of music.” But do singular albums set forth a synergy based around a pop-aimed blend of new wave, dub reggae, and indie electro-meets-hip-hop that creates instantaneous star power for the creator and a legacy that still resonates in our most popular indie and mainstream hits in the present? In this particular instance, they do. In naming ten moments that defined Santigold, these are also ten moments that defined the architecture of art-as-pop that fused indie and mainstream into a genre-destroying musical missile that’s left bodies dancing and minds were blown open worldwide in its genre-destroying wake.