Saul Williams

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Saul Williams in Brooklyn 2005

Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972 in Newburgh , Orange County , New York ) is an American author , poet , actor , rapper , singer and musician in the hip-hop scene. He is best known for his spoken word albums and the film Slam .

biography

Saul Williams was born in Newburgh in 1972 to a priest and teacher. After graduating from Morehouse College in Atlanta , Georgia with a BA in philosophy , he moved to New York to study drama at university. There he came into contact with the poetry slam scene and began to take part in slams himself. In 1996 he won the title of Nuyorican Poets Cafe Grand Slam Champion .

Due to his fame as a Grand Slam Champion, Williams came to the film Slam in 1998 , in which he played the leading role. The film won both the Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Caméra d'Or in Cannes , which made Williams known to European audiences.

Around the same time, Williams began making music and setting his poems to music. He worked with artists like The Fugees , Blackalicious , Erykah Badu , İlhan Erşahin , KRS-One , De La Soul , DJ Krust and DJ Spooky , as well as with the poets Allen Ginsberg and Sonia Sanchez . After various EPs , Williams released the critically acclaimed album Amethyst Rock Star in 2001 . In September 2004, his second album followed, simply called Saul Williams .

In 2005 he appeared on Enter The Chicken , an album by experimental guitarist Buckethead . Williams can also be heard on the Nine Inch Nails single Survivalism from the album Year Zero (2007) and made a remix of the track, which can currently be heard on Williams' personal Myspace page and later as a bonus on the vinyl version of the Single should come.

Williams already accompanied the Nine Inch Nails on their summer tour through Europe in 2005 , he also toured with The Mars Volta . In 2006 Williams, who this time accompanied the Nine Inch Nails through North America, announced that Trent Reznor would produce Williams' new album.

This appeared under the name on November 1, 2007 was the publication policy similar to the few weeks earlier released album "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!" In Rainbows by Radiohead , as a record label has been dispensed and the payment is voluntary: The Album can be downloaded for free or for $ 5 from niggytardust.com. There is, however, a sound difference between these two alternatives, as the downloading of lossless FLAC files is only possible after payment has been made.

On January 4th, 2008 Saul Williams and Trent Reznor published specific figures for downloading the current album (www.visions.de). Accordingly, the album "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!" Was downloaded a total of 154,000 times in the months of November and December. Of these, 28,000 users paid the voluntary amount of US $ 5. Reznor commented on the numbers as follows: “Is that good news that not even one in five estimates the album to be worth 5 dollars? I don't know what I was expecting, but that percentage seems daunting. On the other hand, Saul's music is on more iPods than ever before and people are interested in him. ”By comparison, Saul Williams' last regular album has sold 33,000 copies to date. (Source: www.visions.de)

Williams has published as a writer in The New York Times , Esquire , Bomb Magazine, and African Voices . In addition, he has published four collections of his poems.

Williams has toured both as a musician and as a writer. He currently resides in Los Angeles , California .

bibliography

Discography

Albums / EPs

  • Penny for a Thought / Purple Pigeons EP (2000)
  • Amethyst Rock Star (2001)
  • Not in My Name EP (2003)
  • Saul Williams (2004)
  • The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! (2007)
  • NGH WHT - The Dead Emcee Scrolls with the Arditti Quartet (2009)
  • Volcanic Sunlight (2011)
  • MartyrLoserKing (2016)

Other publications

  • "Twice the First Time" on Eargasms - Crucialpoetics Vol. 1 (1997)
  • "Elohim (1972)" on Black Whole Styles (1998)
  • "OHM" on Lyricist Lounge Volume One (1999)
  • "Coded Language" on Coded Language by DJ Krust (1999)
  • "Release" (feat. Lyrics Born ) on Blazing Arrow by Blackalicious (2002)
  • "Time (Jungle) (Temple Of Soul Mix)" on Nublu Sessions , mixed by Wax Poetic (2003)
  • "Sent from Sandy Shores" (feat. Sacajawea) on Dreams of Water Themes by Adventure Time (2003)
  • "Three Fingers" on Enter the Chicken by Buckethead & Friends (2005)
  • "Sea Lion (Extended)" (feat. Will Oldham ) on "Sea Lion" by Sage Francis (2005)
  • "Mr. Nichols "on Sound Mirrors by Coldcut (2006)
  • "Survivalism" and "Me, I'm Not" on Year Zero by Nine Inch Nails (2007)
  • “U Can Do It” on KIDS by Maeckes

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Saul Williams  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Saul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Saul Stacey
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American singer, rapper, writer, actor, and poet
DATE OF BIRTH February 29, 1972
PLACE OF BIRTH Newburgh , New York , United States