SAUL WILLIAMS (USA)

Saul Williams, born in New York 34 years ago, has a rather impressive curriculum vitae. Besides having a B.A. in philosophy, he has released four volumes of poetry, played the leading role in the film Slam, given lectures in universities all around the world, supported rock gods like Nine Inch Nails and The Mars Volta, as well as released a number of experimental hip hop solo albums and EPs and worked together with such hip hop artists as Blackalicious and Wax Poetic. Fascinating, isn't it? This man probably doesn't take his coffee decaffeinated.

His latest, self-titled album is about politics, relationships and relationship politics, but musically he wants to combine the coolness of hip hop with the rawness of rock and emo and the rebellion of punk. The end result is what he calls "industrial punk hop". But Saul Williams is not your regular lonely bedroom artist in that he is always supported by a mighty set of session musicians — in fact, he detests drum machines so much that he has even written a protest song against them.

At the moment Saul Williams is particularly hot for his brand new volume of poetry, The Dead Emcee Scrolls. Williams's music and lyrics have contributed enormously to the revival of poetry in black America, which no doubt suits the man's book well: one of his most important aspirations, after all, is to preach the audience, James Brown -style, the gospel of being black and proud. What William has to offer is a comprehensive artistic vision, meaning so much more than the dull glitter and gangsta images usually associated with hip hop.

www.saulwilliams.com

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