Santigold: KCRW Guest DJ set

Genre-obliterating queen Santigold is now LA-based, so she’s popping by her local station to share songs and stories that are just as eclectic as her soul-punk-electro hybrid hits “L.E.S. Artistes,” “Disparate Youth,” and “Lights Out,” (to name a few). In conversation with Morning Becomes Eclectic co-host Anthony Valadez, she breaks down why Schoolly D’s “P.S.K. What Does It Mean?” makes her nostalgic for her Philly childhood, how the “poetry” of The Smiths’ “Still Ill” makes her wish she’d written it herself, and the reason Gregory Issaacs’ “Material Man” became her go-to dressing room chill fodder. Catch her live tomorrow night at DTLA’s newest venue The Bellwether. Valadez calls her live show one of the best he’s ever seen, and you can expect deep cuts from her 2022 album Spirituals alongside all the auditory gold she’s spun throughout her illustrious career.

Read on to check out her Guest DJ set picks, and the stories behind the songs.

Schoolly D – “PSK, What Does It Mean?”

[This is] one of those songs that I remember from very, very early on. There's some others that were very, very local, but I chose this one because it had such a huge impact on rap in general. They call him the first gangster rapper, but really it was like he was the first one very honestly talking about his experience… where he's from. Also, it's just amazing. That and “looking at my Gucci is about that time…” [from another Schoolly D track “Gucci Time.”] Ah, so good! And I just remember being a little kid, and knowing he was from Philly. I felt very proud.

As I've gotten older, I found out that so many musicians [from] across all genres spent a lot of time in Philly. Like Nina Simone, and John Coltrane — people that you didn't know they were in Philly. I don't know that they're from Philly, but people used to come to Philly for music. There's so much, but for me specifically in my childhood, this one really resonated.

The Smiths – “Still Ill”

When I first heard these songs… The way that Morrissey sang was so melodic, and so beautiful, and his lyrics were so dark. That influenced me so much, the juxtaposition. And then Johnny Marr’s guitar sound, and [Andy Rourke’s] basslines — everything just resonated with me. It was every style that I liked.

Maybe I didn't know I liked it until then. But from then on it was so influential in guitar sounds that I liked, and the way that I like to do soft vocals over heavy guitars. But [Morrissey’s] lyrics were so ironic and so beautifully written — it was poetry. As a kid I just liked things that made me feel any of my deeper feelings. I mean… I don't think I was super emo, but maybe that's what emo is [laughs]. I just like to be able to put words on all the range of emotions. He did it so well, and it was inspiring.

Bad Brains – “Right Brigade”

My band Stiffed actually covered this song one time, and I had so much fun. Bad Brains in general, especially the earliest stuff, so fully, fully embodies what punk and hardcore is to me. And the pure energy of it, performance wise, is just something I've never experienced outside of it. To be that completely free when performing music is something I miss.

Santigold is so much more complicated with all these different vocal sounds, and tracks, and choreography, and all this stuff. But that was just like, “go! [laughs]” And H.R. as a vocalist is also a huge inspiration to me, because he always used his voice in such unexpected ways. His range was so insane. It's an instrument, he can just do stuff like [imitates a sharp, rapid fire vocal style that H.R. would employ]. He can do anything [including] switch voices. That was hugely influential for me as a vocalist. I was like, “Oh, I can use my voice like an instrument and change it all the time.” I ended up doing [this] from influences like him. And his lyrics are great, and there's the whole Rastafarian thing. I came up listening to a lot of reggae, and it was just so novel to have a Black Rastafarian in hardcore punk. So legit, so influential to the entire movement that came after, and for them to happen to be Black and Rasta was just like, wow.

Obongjayar – “I Wish It Was Me”

[Obongjayar] is an artist that came to me through a friend, a producer that I work with named Psymun, who worked on my Spirituals record with me. He always sends me great stuff, and he's like, “Have you heard this?”

I just loved it, and then I even then heard a song that [Obongjayar] did with Little Simz called “Point And Kill” which is [also] one of my favorite new songs that I've heard, and it’s not new, but it is for me [laughs]. I love his voice. I love people that sing in that way, and all the African influence. Also, whatever you call the other part of it, it's sort of lo-fi, beautiful, and hazy. When I listened to it, I couldn't stop. You know when someone takes you into a space that's just the world of the song? It's special, especially nowadays, I don't feel that very often.

Gregory Isaacs – “Material Man”

I recently rediscovered the Gregory Isaacs Night Nurse album. It's always been one of my favorite albums, but you know when you forget about an album for a little while? And then I [rediscovered] the song “Material Man,” which… I don't know why I love it so much. I think it's the melodies. Whether it's the actual instrumental melodies, or his vocal melodies… It's such a vibe.