Comments on: First Listen: Saul Williams - MartyrLoserKing

First Listen: Saul Williams - MartyrLoserKing

hippybear — Wed, 20 Jan 2016 22:09:55 -0800

Spoken word artist Saul Williams comes forth with a new album, MartyrLoserKing, available for first listen via NPR, produced by Justin Warfield. Williams first made his name on the slam poetry circuit and has been recording rap (hard to call them hip-hop) albums for several years.

Williams' previous albums include the Trent Reznor-produced The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust, a personal favorite of mine.

By: not_on_display

not_on_display — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 00:07:35 -0800

Hearing Saul Williams for the first time many years ago, for me, was an awakening as to how a whole style of music you thought you had pinned down could suddenly veer off-course and produce not only something different, exciting, wonderful, and completely unexpected, but also a callback to the very roots of the genre. (Michael Franti also hit me like that around the same time, but sounding completely different from Saul Williams.) Thanks for posting this.

By: TreeHugger

TreeHugger — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 00:48:30 -0800

By: Jimbob

Jimbob — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 02:58:08 -0800

Blackalicious's "Release" is where I first came across Saul Williams, and it's an incredible track. I tried to dive into some of his other work and found it...difficult. What should I be listening to?

By: sapagan

sapagan — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 03:48:07 -0800

Damn, this is good. Ever since I heard Coded Language, an almost unbearably intense track, I've loved most that I've come across. But unfortunately haven't been a very regular follower so I see that I've missed a few albums even. Thanks for the reminder! Time to fill some gaps. I see there's also a few videos already on youtube: Coltan as Cotton, Burundi, Horn of the Clock-Bike.

By: box

box — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 04:41:13 -0800

What should I be listening to? 'Amethyst Rock Star' isn't a bad starting point.

By: FatherDagon

FatherDagon — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 05:32:58 -0800

I will not rhyme over tracks Niggas on a chain gang used to do that Waaaay back

By: allthinky

allthinky — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 06:30:12 -0800

Oh, shoot. I really need to work this morning.

By: spindle

spindle — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 06:52:04 -0800

(hard to call them hip-hop) Nope. Saul Williams is a hip-hop artist -- it's there in the subtitle of one of his books. It's just that he's a hip-hop artist in open revolt against what hip-hop has become. His project is a very deliberate effort to expand the range of the genre -- to say that this, too, is hip-hop. So if it's hard to call them hip-hop that's deliberate, and probably the most interesting way to think about his work.

By: spindle

spindle — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 06:57:36 -0800

These lyrics from Coded Language, for example, are addressed directly to hip-hop:

Statements, such as, "keep it real", especially when punctuating or Anticipating modes of ultra-violence inflicted psychologically or physically Or depicting an unchanging rule of events will hence forth be seen as Retro-active and not representative of the individually determined is

By: Ufez Jones

Ufez Jones — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 07:02:18 -0800

I've seen him perform live in Dallas over 12 years ago. Sophisticated, mysterious (to me), intriguing, kind of serious, and overall just brilliant. Great to see him mentioned on MeFi; I would highly recommend checking out his work. posted by TreeHugger at 2:48 AM on January 21 [+] [!] Was that by chance on the Plea for Peace tour (at Trees)? If so, I was volunteering at the Music For America table that night registering people to vote. I didn't get to hang out with him much, but Saul made a point to come over and thank me for being there and we chatted for about 2 minutes. He's a genuinely kind man (as was everyone I met that night, including Plea for Peace tour organizer Mike Park).

By: No One Ever Does

No One Ever Does — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 11:02:39 -0800

Awesome! I knew he was coming out with the album, but it slipped off the radar for me. Really looking forward to listening to it when I get the chance.

By: hippybear

hippybear — Sun, 31 Jan 2016 10:56:20 -0800

Saul Williams interview on Weekend Edition from this morning, talking about the album. No transcript link available at this time.

By: sapagan

sapagan — Thu, 04 Feb 2016 13:43:37 -0800

Reddit AMA w/ Saul Williams.