SANTAE( born Liyabona Giyose) is an independent dark R&B and rap artist from the East Rand, Gauteng, South Africa — born in Queenstown, Eastern Cape, and raised in Kempton Park. A multidisciplinary creative working across music, fashion, scriptwriting, and worldbuilding, SANTAE approaches songwriting as an architect first — every record exists inside a larger structure.
His catalog explores toxic relationship dynamics through an unflinching lens: not the wronged party, but the emotionally unavailable one. The villain who isn’t cruel — just absent.
Running through projects like HER.SINS, Chase, and P.L.A.Y.G.I.R.L, that thesis sharpens with every release — each body of work a layer peeled back, each project a step closer to something undeniable.
SANTAE doesn’t make singles. He makes worlds.