"Disparate Youth" is a song from American musician

Santigold Santi White (born September 25, 1976), known professionally as Santigold (formerly Santogold), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. '' Billboard'' presented her in 2022, saying: "Spanning punk rock, hip-hop, and dance music, S ...

. The track was released in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

on 14 February 2012 as the

lead single A lead single (also known as a debut single) is the first single to be released from a studio album by an artist or a band, usually before the album itself is released and also occasionally on the same day of the album's release date. Release s ...

from the artist's second studio album, ''

Master of My Make-Believe ''Master of My Make-Believe'' is the second studio album by American musician and singer Santigold, released in the United Kingdom on April 24, 2012 and in the United States on May 1, through Downtown and Atlantic Records. The album features contr ...

'' (2012). In September 2012, "Disparate Youth" became the soundtrack to

insurance Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, or injury. It is a form of risk management, primarily used to hedge ...

company

Direct Line Direct Line is an insurance company based in Bromley, England. Founded in 1985, as the country's first direct car insurance company, it has since expanded to offer a range of general insurance products. Its policies are underwritten by the regul ...

's latest television advertisement. In December 2012, an instrumental version of the song was used by

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

for their television advertisement, "Things Can Always Be Better". The UK insurance company,

also utilised the track for a range of adverts between 2012 and 2014. The song is also featured in the video games ''

Forza Horizon ''Forza Horizon'' is a 2012 racing video game developed by Playground Games and published by Microsoft Studios for the Xbox 360 on 23 October 2012. The game is the fifth instalment of the '' Forza'' series, having originally spun-off from Turn 10 ...

'' and ''

NBA 2K16 ''NBA 2K16'' is a 2015 basketball simulation video game developed by Visual Concepts and published by 2K Sports. It is the 17th installment in the ''NBA 2K'' franchise and the successor to ''NBA 2K15''. It was released on September 29, 2015 fo ...

''. It has also been used to advertise YouTube's Geek Week in August 2013. The song was also used in the Netflix original series ''

Atypical ''Atypical'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Robia Rashid for Netflix. It focuses on the life of 18-year-old Sam Gardner (Keir Gilchrist), who is on the autism spectrum. The first season was released on August 11, 2017, ...

'', in season one, episode six, during the end credits, and featured in '' Good Girls''. “Disparate Youth” was featured in the 2020 trailer for the Netflix series “ Unorthodox.”

Critical reception

In March 2012, ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' heralded "Disparate Youth" as part of his 'New Music' feature. Reviewer Michael Cragg hailed it as "an absolute corker, all sleek new-wave keyboards mixed with frantic bursts of guitar and Santigold's intriguingly emotionless delivery."

Track listing

Charts

For the chart week dated April 21, 2012, "Disparate Youth" debuted at number ninety-six on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

; marking the artist's second appearance on the chart—following "

L.E.S. Artistes "L.E.S. Artistes" is the second single by American artist Santigold (known then as ''Santogold''), and along with " Creator", the first to be taken from her self-titled debut '' Santogold'' (see 2008 in music). Background "L.E.S. Artistes" was ...

" (number 27, 2008).

Release history

Music video

Santigold and filmmaker

Sam Fleischner Sam Fleischner is an American filmmaker based in New York. Fleischner is the son of the artist Richard Fleischner. Career Fleischner graduated from Wesleyan University in 2006 with a degree in film studies. Starting with short films in 2005, he c ...

co-directed a "Disparate Youth"

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...

shot in

Portland Parish Portland, with its capital town Port Antonio, is a parish located on Jamaica's northeast coast. It is situated to the north of St Thomas and to the east of St Mary in Surrey County. It is one of the rural areas of Jamaica, containing part ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

, which released in March 2012. The video, shot on a shoestring budget, shows Santigold riding a motorcycle through a colonial-era town, riding a speedboat off the coast, and entering a jungle with some young Jamaican locals. Fleischner has revealed that this was the second video shot for the song, following "a Clockwork Orange-inspired video that the label spent a lot of money on" which Santigold decided not to release.

References

{{authority control 2012 singles Santigold songs Songs written by Santigold Songs written by Nick Zinner 2011 songs Atlantic Records singles Dubtronica songs