Saul Williams
Biography
It’s difficult to define what Saul Williams actually is, aside from being an artist. He has been involved in so many successful projects that he can be safely called an actor, a poet, a musician and an author, and to be honest we wouldn’t be surprised if he’s got a few paintings stashed away in a gallery somewhere, the talented sod. It all started for Saul in New York’s Poetry Slam scene, where in 1996 he was crowned the Nuyorican Poets Cafe's Grand Slam Champion, going on to compete in the National Poetry Slam in Portland, Oregon (as documented in Paul Devlin’s film SlamNation).
That wasn’t going to be Williams’ last appearance on the big screen, as in 1998 he co-wrote and starred in the critically acclaimed film Slam, winning the Grand Jury Prize for a Dramatic Film at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, along with the Camera D’Or at the Cannes Film Festival. The success of the film helped draw attention to his fledgling music career, which included live appearances with artists such as Blackalicious, De La Soul, Nas, The Fugees and Zach De La Rocha, whom he would go on to work with on his later albums. He started recording with mega-producer Rick Rubin (RHCP, Slayer, Johnny Cash, Rage Against The Machine, Metallica etc. etc.) in 2000, and released his debut album Amethyst Rock Star in 2001.
Williams’ musical style is probably most accurately described as ‘Industrial Hip Hop’, often mixing samples of hard rock with his half spoken, half rapped vocals and Hip Hop beats, with bands sampled on his debut including Rage Against the Machine (on ‘Om Nia Merican’) and Nine Inch Nails (on ‘Robeson‘). 2004’s self-titled album gained Williams considerable praise, and provided him with a semi-mainstream hit with ‘List of Demands (Reparations)’, which would later feature on a Nike advert. In the wake of the album his profile was further increased by supporting slots on tours with the likes of The Mars Volta and Nine Inch Nails, and earned him an invitation to Lollapalooza festival in 2005.
NIN’s Trent Reznor seemingly took quite a shine to Williams in their time together, inviting him to appear on NIN’s Year Zero, and resulting in the pair collaborating on Williams’ third studio album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! The album was available to either download for free, or to buy for $5, following the trend of Radiohead’s In Rainbows, which was released only a couple of weeks before. The pair plan to work together on a sequel to Niggy Tardust in the future.
So that’s actor, poet and musician covered, what about author? To date, Williams has had four books of poetry published, ‘The Seventh Octave’, ‘,said the shotgun to the head.’, ‘The Dead Emcee Scrolls’, and ‘S/HE’ , which documents the demise of Williams’ relationship with visual artist and art professor Marcia Jones. Activism is also very much on his agenda, being a vocal opponent to the USA’s activities in the Middle East, and penning several protest songs to appear on his albums (‘Not in my Name’, ‘Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare)).
This year will see Saul Williams release his fourth studio album, Volcanic Sunlight, as well as head over to our shores for two shows, one of which being Rockfeedback’s very special (and unfortunately extremely sold out) show at Hoxton Bar & Kitchen on 26th January. Get your hands on a ticket if you can somehow, otherwise keep your eyes out for his next jaunt over this way, and enjoy the work of a truly unique and gifted individual.
Links
Tour Dates
26th Jan - Hoxton Bar & Kitchen, London
27th Jan - Magdalen College, Oxford
Videos
Black Stacey:
Sunday Bloody Sunday:
List of Demands (Live with NIN):