Royal the Serpent's dramatic alt-electro-pop is the brainchild of Los Angeles-based singer and songwriter Ryan Santiago. She introduced her assertive sound and distinctively girlish yet bluesy voice with the single "Temperance" in 2017. The project reached the Top 20 of the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart with "Overwhelmed" from her debut EP Get a Grip in 2020. A featured spot on the Knocks' "Sound the Alarm" beside Rivers Cuomo resulted in an appearance on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart the following year. Royal the Serpent's third EP, IF I DIED WOULD ANYONE CARE, saw release in 2022.

With inspirations spanning big band, early rock & roll, Janis Joplin, and Stevie Nicks, the New Jersey native established Royal the Serpent after settling in Los Angeles to work on developing her sound. She ultimately recorded her first single, 2017's "Temperance," with producer Ken Nana of MIKNNA. In 2018, she co-wrote and was featured on "Wicked" by producer Tommee Profitt, a spooky, theatrical track that was used for the trailer for the crime film The Girl in the Spider's Web. Royal the Serpent returned with the single "Together" in early 2019 before signing with Suicide Squeeze, which issued "Weddings & Funerals" that April. That year, she also delivered a pair of singles ("Salvador Dali" and "IDK") in collaboration with Marky Style.

Royal the Serpent's June 2020 Atlantic Records debut, "Overwhelmed," reached number 20 on the Billboard Hot Rock & Alternative Songs chart, and she released the corresponding debut EP, Get a Grip, in October. Another EP, Searching for Nirvana, followed in June 2021. A month later, Royal the Serpent was featured alongside Rivers Cuomo on the Knocks track "Sound the Alarm." It landed in the Top 30 of Billboard's Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Confrontational Royal the Serpent single "PHUCKBOI REJECTS" and her third EP, IF I DIED WOULD ANYONE CARE, followed on Atlantic in early 2022. Another single, "Better," followed off the EP. Also that year, she paired with GG Magree for the emotionally raw, punk-infused single "Bitch." ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi