Interview: Santigold (USA) - Rhythm And Alps Festival 2025

Santigold has long been recognised for her boundary-pushing music ('Disparate Youth', 'L.E.S Artistes'), blending genres and challenging expectations. A visionary who emerged from the punk scene and quickly built a career defined by constant reinvention and being ahead of the curve, she’s never been interested in fitting neatly into industry boxes. Laura Culme talked to the Philadelphia phenomenon about music, identity, activism, and her upcoming performance at Rhythm and Alps — marking the Wānaka summer festival's 15th anniversary...

Rhythm and Alps
Cardrona Valley, Wānaka

Monday 29th December
A special campers-only party before the main stages open. Celebrate with an all-Kiwi lineup celebrating the best DJs from our own backyard. Lineup and special guests to be announced

Tuesday 30th December
ANTZ, c100, CASH, Connor Tomoana, Corrella, Disco Dom (Dombresky), Fish56Octagon, FLYGRRL, Gentlemens Club, Giorgio Bot B2B Andiamo, Gordo&Teej, HALFQUEEN, Jack Ritchie, KANINE, Knox, Kurupt FM, Lady Shaka, Natty Lou, Parry, P Digsss, RUDIM3NTAL, Sandfly, Storm, Th’ Goodside

Wednesday 31st December
Bad Birds, Badger, Bare Up, Beccie B, Bevel, Catch-22, Catching Cairo, Chaos In The CBD, COMMUNICATE, DADADA, Deep Notion, Descendants, Dick Johnson, DirdyGerty, Dizzee Rascal, Fairbrother, Fiona & The Glow, Indecisive, inmotion, Lars Moston, Miss Batsy, Miss Jane, Nice Girl, Pages Layn, Rare Specimens, Rayza x Darren Bailey, Rinza, Santigold, Seymore, SUUNE, Swimming Paul, Synthony, The Black Seeds, Thief, Touch Point Yunset

Tickets on sale now at rhythmandalps.flicket.co.nz

For Santi White, known worldwide as Santigold, labels have always felt more like traps than descriptors. She learned this early on while working in the Black music department at Sony Music and cutting her teeth in her punk band Stiffed, making music that didn’t fit into the box of what Black artists were expected to create. "I cared so much in the beginning of my career because when you're trying to establish yourself in the world, it can be really dangerous for people to try to trap you in a box, particularly as a Black artist", she says.

Her time at Sony was especially eye-opening. "It was so clear what the trappings were compared to the entire rest of the company. Only certain types of music were allowed. Anything you tried to sign by a Black artist that didn't fit had no place anywhere. But if they made enough money and were big enough, then they were taken out of the Black music department. Michael Jackson and Sade were certainly not in the Black music department. They were in the pop department."

When she began releasing punk music in Philadelphia in the early 2000s, a scene then known almost exclusively for neo-soul, she knew she had to fight for her artistic identity. "I had to distance myself from that because I knew if I got caught there, I'd never end up where I wanted to be", she says. "I had to really charter my own path because there was no path for me."

In 2003 things started to change. "By the time MySpace came out, it didn’t matter what everyone said because you could just put the music up and it spoke for itself. Fans could find it." And other artists did find it. Collaborations with artists like Mark Ronson, Björk, David Byrne and the Beastie Boys affirmed that her genre-defying approach resonated beyond industry boxes.

Today, she’s unbothered by what people call her music. "The name doesn’t ever fit. I don’t know what to call my music. Whatever somebody chooses to call it is going to be as limited as their understanding of music", she says. "I’ve been called an R&B artist, a rapper, a dance music artist — whatever. I know what I am and what my music is, and to be honest, I don't think music needs a name for people to understand it."

While platforms like MySpace once helped break down labels and boundaries and opened the world to new music, Santigold reflects on the state of social media today: "It's turned into a disaster. It's turned into a disaster because that's where humans are. We don't know how to keep anything good. Not to say that we won't get there, I do have faith in humanity, but right now, any time you're putting commerce over humanity, you're heading in the wrong direction."

She goes on to describe how dangerous social media has become: "A tool doesn't need to be used. It doesn't need your attention. Social media is not a tool because it has an agenda. It needs you to be engaged, and that's unhealthy. That’s when it starts utilising addiction tactics."

The pressure on artists to present themselves as brands rather than musicians she believes, has distorted what it means to be an artist. "When an artist sees themself as a brand, that has a different agenda than art", she says. "When the goal is getting as big as you can and getting as much money as you can as quickly as you can, then the art part is not the main point."

She’s especially wary of an industry that prioritises profit over the well-being of creators and where artists lack ownership and control. "Our music gets sold without us having any say or reaping any benefit. Recently I was like, who owns my music? I didn't even know because it gets sold and sold. It's like indentured servitude."

Still, Santigold remains hopeful: "I love the idea of artists having autonomy and figuring out how to use these things as tools rather than lords ruling us."

Her podcast Noble Champions was born during the pandemic, when we were isolated and everything felt so heavy. Santigold started having conversations with her friends, "Because they were just kind of great conversations to help people just begin thinking about these things in different ways. These were conversations I was having anyway. I thought, I'm gonna start a podcast. It coincided with the release of my record Spirituals (2022) and the topics I was dealing with."

Noble Champions sees Santi sit down with leading artists, authors, activists, and progressive thinkers. "Gathering minds with different opinions and talking about something just doesn't happen much anymore. I loved it. It was beautiful and insightful for me."

She traces this impulse back to her youth. "When I was a teenager, I would get a video of some speaker, bring my friends over, we'd watch it and have discussions. That was the '90s. We were political; we wanted to take action."

While Santigold resists the idea that artists must be activists, she recognises the power of speaking authentically. “I don't feel like it's my obligation to change the world. My obligation is to be absolutely authentic to myself and honour my truth. In doing that, I've learned it helps other people."

Her upcoming performance at Rhythm and Alps only her second-ever visit to Aotearoa New Zealand, and she’s excited to have a little more time this round. "I was supposed to only be there for one day, but now I think I'm going to be there for two. Last time I was in New Zealand it was for one day. So I will have one full day off and I will get in as much as I can."

As for what fans can expect from her performance: "It is very energetic, lots of dancing, and I take as many opportunities as I can to have the crowd participate. The communal aspect of sharing music is one of my favourite things about performing live."