In this Amoeba Music interview, Santigold walks through the vinyl records she has just purchased, using each pick to illustrate personal history, musical influences, and broader cultural interests. She begins with De La Soul, noting how the album helped shape her sense of identity and was bought in memory of her late friend Dave. She then discusses Lil Yachty’s new release, praising its fresh production. Santigold reflects on her father’s record‑collecting legacy, recalling family road trips blasting N.W.A. and how his love for Pharoah Sanders inspired her own vocal style. She mentions curiosity about eco‑instrumental records, her teenage love for Augustus Pablo’s dub, and a recommendation from friend Yasin for Emma Hoy. She shares childhood memories of seeing Fela Kuti live in Philadelphia, the impact of Chuck Berry, and her fascination with Alfred Hitchcock horror films, linking this to a broader concern about Black representation in cinema. Finally, she explains Kate Bush’s influence on her vocal range and theatricality, even noting a producer’s tongue‑in‑cheek reference to “Kate Bush‑style” production. Throughout, Santigold’s tone is conversational, enthusiastic, and reflective, weaving together music, family, grief, and cultural commentary.
Chapters
Hi, I'm Santigold and I'm at Amoeba and this is What's in My Bag. This is the first one, De La Soul. Greetings girl and welcome to my world of phrasing right off the bat. It's the daisy age and you're about to walk top stage, so wipe your lados on them. When they came out with this record, by that time I had a little bit of an understanding of my identity, you know, and I just knew that I was a little bit weird compared to all the other Black people, and they hit on that. I was like, "Oh, they're like artists and really like creative, and they're saying like kind of smart poetic stuff." It just opened up the world of my imagination of where I might fit in. You know, so this was an important record. And with Dave's passing, I just felt like I had to buy this. Okay, I just picked this up. This is Lil Yachty's new record, and I just think it's so interesting, and it was unexpected, and the song "The Ride" is so good. Making eye contact is suicide. Suicide. Lil Yachty, he's always so melodic, So that's not surprising, but just with the instrumentation and then, I mean, the ride was like really well produced and it sounded really fresh to me, you know? Eazy-E's like one of my favorites ever. N.W.A., this record is just like massive for me. I mean, my whole family liked N.W.A. My dad was really into "Fuck Tha Police." Fuck the police. I think it really resonated with him. I remember driving my sister to college and we were blasting it as a family in the car. I think I had this record when I was little, to be honest. This record is another— a lot of these are gonna be— my dad was a big record collector and a lot of these are gonna be— my dad passed away in 2004 and he used to take me to the record store every weekend when I was little. Like every Saturday, if you wanted to go, you could go and you could get records. Like, you would always be able to get records. You could be grounded and get records, you know? But Pharoah Sanders was one of his favorites, and particularly "The Creator Has a Master Plan." I think he did this song with— what's his name? I feel like his name's Leon. But he does this thing with his voice And he's like, it's like yodeling. It's actually like kind of like what I do with my voice. And I think as a kid, I loved it so much. So that's why when I saw what record this was, I was like, I've got to get that. I don't know what this is. First of all, I bought it because of the COVID I think it might be of these people that make all their instruments from recycled objects and even on their bodies, like on their clothes. And I don't know if this is that, but the back does look like that because the instruments are made out of like empty water bottles and pots and pans and pieces of metal. So I think that's what this is. But if not, I don't even care because this is the best outfit I've ever seen. I got Augustus Plobel because he's the original rocker. I grew up listening to Augustus Pablo, and I just remember as a teenager just driving with like one of those just long dub records. I just, I love him. So I got that. I got Emma Hoy because I saw this record and I was like, I need to have this record. I've been talking to my friend Yasin, and he like loves her so much. He was on my podcast, and the way that he described her is that, I don't know, that the way that she plays is like pure spirit.
It's the type of music that you put on and it immediately elevates any setting, you know?
That's why I got it. I just been want— it's somebody that I've been wanting to listen to for a long time. I heard that she passed away, Yasin's one of my best friends and it's his favorite. So I don't even know what this is, but I remember African Head Charge from when I was a little kid. We had a lot of records in my house and we had an African Head Charge record, but I don't remember it. And I remember loving the name and I might have I might have put it on mixtapes. So I got it. And the cover's sick anyway. I got 3 Fela Kuti records because Fela's one of my favorites ever in the world. I open my eyes, see for my land. I went to see Fela when I was 7 in Philadelphia. And he had all his, like, 27 wives on stage. Topless, and I was like mind blown and amazed. And I went home and I did what I called the African dance on the floor. I was 7. There were so many things. I mean, Chuck Berry, I Wanna Read It.
Within months of the release of his first single, Maybelline, people were using rock and roll in their daily conversation. The words explained what music they liked, then it expressed what in life they liked, and then it was them.
I'm just so into him. First of all, he's so hot. Look at him, right? So hugely influential for any person who's into rock music, but any Black person in particular. I mean, I would assume, 'cause I am fascinated by his story. I got this. It's this Alfred Hitchcock book. I've been thinking a lot about horror films and kind of want to write one. And some of my favorite horror films are Alfred Hitchcock, because I'm actually scared of horror films. Like, I can't watch most of them. But I can watch, like, the classic ones. But it's the ghost stuff that you can't shake, you know? And real-life ghost stuff, you know? Fascinated by ghosts and, like, kind of want to see them. But they don't show up for me 'cause I'm actually too terrified. So I like horror films that don't stick with me forever. Do you know what I'm saying? Like, in a bad way. I got this. Like so. The roles that were available sucked, and I'm just interested in the storyline of tracing that to how it shaped and opened doors for the way that Black people are portrayed in film now, because I still think we have a very long way to go, and I'm just interested in what they're gonna say about that, you know? And I'm interested in Black people in film and pushing the doors open even more, so I'm interested in this. I wanna see what it's talking about. Last thing I'm gonna talk about is Kate Bush. Aho! This is the first thing I picked up, and it has like almost every song that I love. Particularly, I love Rocket's Tale. It's one of my favorites. She really showcases like her full vocal range and the theatrical element, and I just always been influenced by her on my song Creator. It's really funny because Switch— it's one of the producers said do some like Kate Bush shit in the beginning. That's what we did. And he was like okay, kind of kidding, and he used it so that was It's embarrassingly Kate Bush inspired. Anyway. Thank you so much for talking with us today.
