by Marisa Ruiz (@MarisaVictoria)

Santi White, AKA Santigold. Photo Credit: Damon Winter

You can’t very neatly categorize Santigold into any box and Santi White likes it that way. Even Wikipedia is weak on authority with proposed genres rattled off in a manner that implies there may be a question mark on the end: New Wave, dub, electronica, hip-hop, reggae fusion, pop… ? It may be best simplified to just call her an experimenter – a songwriter, producer and singer with an artful talent to sample different styles of music and meld them together into catchy tracks that resonate as authentic.

Her self-titled debut album in 2008 made such an impact that she has remained on the radar of industry heavy hitters all the way through her second album’s release four years later in April of 2012. She’s opened for names as huge as Coldplay and the Red Hot Chili Peppers; and collaborated with artists ranging from The Beastie Boys to Julian Casablancas. Appearing this year at Coachella – and making a return to Chicago’s Lollapalooza stage – Santigold is currently on tour for Master of My Make-Believe. If we can use her Coachella set list as any indication, we can look forward to hearing a solid mix of first album favorites (“Creator”, “L.E.S. Artistes”, “I’m a Lady”, “Shove It”) and new record stand-outs (“Disparate Youth” and “GO!” featuring Karen O. of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs). Both then and now, her restrained vocals carry a sense of strength and wisdom. How she manages to seem calm, cool and collected yet simultaneously passionate eludes me – but it’s just one more reason she’s worth seeing live.

Santigold will be playing Lollapalooza on Saturday, August 4, 2012.

Add Santigold to your custom Lollapalooza line-up.

Cheers,

-MV