Santogold: The Way She’s Packaged Confuses Me

What’s the deal with SANTOGOLD? She confuses me. I’ve seen her around blogville for a while, and started to finally listen to her music.

There’s Santogold with M.I.A. Maybe my problem is that I didn’t find M.I.A. incredibly approachable/listen-to-able in regular contexts, so now it’s tough for me to get into this product that I perceive is intended for the ears of people ‘who like stuff that reminds them of M.I.A.”

According wikipedia, SANTOGOLD “went to college at Wesleyan University where she studied Caribbean and West African drumming.” Am I a bad person if I don’t appreciate tribal beats that aren’t in 4/4?

I was watching some videos of SANTOGOLD performing live, and her sidekick MC sort of confused me. She looks kind of like ‘the crazy white girl from Oklahoma who for some reason decided to study Caribbean and West African drumming at college’ and met Santogold.

A lot of stuff on Santogold’s myspace sounds different than this song that they made a video for.

If I heard this song while dining at Chili’s, I would guess that it was TEGAN AND SARA.

Here are some other resume highlights:
-She opened for Bjork
-She has worked with Lily Allen, Mark Ronson and Ashlee Simpson

According to her resume, she’s probably a musical genius, and people who know a lot about music appreciate her. Am I a bad person for not getting into it? I know it’s probably more relevant and complex than traditional hip hop, which makes it bloggable, but maybe I should have taken a ‘music appreciation’ course.

I know what a lot of commenters are going to say: “You don’t like her just cuz she’s black.” That’s not the case. I love black people in alternative music, and all minorities. Remember my post on MLK Day about minorities?

What do U know about Santogold?
Why should people give her a chance?
Do u like this emerging/replicated genre of music?
Should we stop supporting products from Philadelphia?
Why do you think HRO has such a problem wrapping his head around ‘alternative’ rap?

Santogold’s Myspace
http://www.myspace.com/santogold