Santigold was born on September 25, 1976 in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania . [7] [8] She is of African American descent. She attended Germantown Friends School in Philadelphia, and later attended college at Wesleyan University , where she double-majored in music and African-American studies . White is married to Trevor Andrew, with whom she has a son named Radek, born in 2014.

She obtained her pseudonym in the 1990s after a friend gave it to her as a nickname. [9] She worked for Epic Records as an A&R representative but left the position to co-write and executive produce How   I   Do , the singer Res 's debut album. [10]

She was the singer of Philadelphia-based punk rock band Stiffed , which released the albums Sex Sells (2003) and Burned Again (2005): Both were produced by Bad Brains bassist Darryl Jenifer . [11] While in the band, White was offered a solo contract by Martin Heath of London -based independent label Lizard King Records . [3]