Update: According to Santogold's - yeah, Santogold - rep, she has not been forced to change her name. "That release has a mistake. Santi is still Santogold artistically," read an email to Exclaim! So there you have it. Disregard the rest of the news story...
Say goodbye to Santogold. Say hello to Santi. According to music blog Stereogum, the Brooklyn-based singer (born Santi White) has been forced to change her recording name after being sued by Santo Rigatuso, a songwriter/filmmaker/infomercial star who has been using the name Santogold since 1983.
The announcement came from one of the most bizarre sources: a press release for the mtvU Woodies Awards, which casually listed the name as "Santi (formerly known as Santogold)." Still no word has been given fromSantogold, I mean, Santi's labels, Downtown and Lizard King, nor has anything popped up on the singer's MySpace page.
The lawsuit over the name comes at a very questionable time for Santi, considering her music has hit like the plague, appearing in ads for Bud Light, VO5, FIFA 08, NHL 08 and the Ford Flex. Looks like Rigatuso was waiting for the most opportune time to help him rebuild his forgotten gold chain empire and try to bring some traffic to Santogold.com.
Santogold "L.E.S. Artistes"
Say goodbye to Santogold. Say hello to Santi. According to music blog Stereogum, the Brooklyn-based singer (born Santi White) has been forced to change her recording name after being sued by Santo Rigatuso, a songwriter/filmmaker/infomercial star who has been using the name Santogold since 1983.
The announcement came from one of the most bizarre sources: a press release for the mtvU Woodies Awards, which casually listed the name as "Santi (formerly known as Santogold)." Still no word has been given from
The lawsuit over the name comes at a very questionable time for Santi, considering her music has hit like the plague, appearing in ads for Bud Light, VO5, FIFA 08, NHL 08 and the Ford Flex. Looks like Rigatuso was waiting for the most opportune time to help him rebuild his forgotten gold chain empire and try to bring some traffic to Santogold.com.
Santogold "L.E.S. Artistes"
