This page uses content from the Saul Williams biography page on the English version of Wikipedia and is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. This list of authors can be seen in the page history. Rotten Tomatoes disclaims any and all warranties as to the accuracy or reliability of the content.
Saul Stacey Williams (February 29 1972 - ) has been considered a powerful voice of the hip hop generation as a poet, preacher, actor, rapper, singer and musician. He is most known for his blend of spoken word poetry and hip-hop and for his leading role in the independent film Slam.
Biography
Williams was born in 1972 in Newburgh, New York to a preacher father and school-teacher mother. "My mother was rushed from a James Brown concert in order to give birth to me ... At that concert, he sang 'Say It Loud, I'm Black and I'm Proud,' and that shit came out in my bloodstream. I was born with that in me." [1] As a child he learned to love the spoken and written word.
After graduating from Morehouse College with a B.A. in philosophy, Williams moved to New York City to take a Master's Degree at New York University in acting. Here he found himself at the center of the New York cafe poetry scene. By 1995 he had become a talented open mic poet and in 1996 he won the title of Nuyorican Poets Cafe's Grand Slam Champion.
Fame on the spoken-word circuit led him to the lead role in the 1998 feature film Slam, which won both the Sundance Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Cannes Camera D'Or, introducing Williams to international audiences.
Williams was at this time breaking into music. He had performed with such artists as The Fugees, Blackalicious, Erykah Badu, KRS-One, De La Soul, DJ Krust, as well as legendary poets Allen Ginsberg and Sonia Sanchez. After releasing a string of EPs, in 2001 he released the much-hyped Amethyst Rock Star with producer Rick Rubin and in September 2004 his self-titled album to much acclaim.
He played several shows supporting Nine Inch Nails on their European tour in summer 2005, and has also supported The Mars Volta. Williams was also invited to the Lollapalooza music festival in Summer 2005. The Chicago stage allowed Williams to attract a wider audience. He also supported NIN on their 2006 North American tour, during which he announced that Trent Reznor would co-produce his next album. [2]
As a writer, Williams has been published in The New York Times, Esquire, Bomb Magazine and African Voices, as well as having released four collections of poetry. He has toured and lectured across the world, appearing at many universities and colleges. He currently resides in Los Angeles, California.
Williams is a vocal critic of the Bush administration, the "War on Terrorism," and the Iraq War; among his more well-known works are the anti-war anthems "Not In My Name" and "Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare)," which featured lines such as "We pledge allegiance/we pledge alliance/for those who have undercome attack for their opposition to the war" (in the former) and "It's just coincidence that oil men wage war in an oil-rich land" (in the latter.)
Discography
Albums/EPs
- Penny For A Thought / Purple Pigeons (2000)
- Amethyst Rock Star (2001)
- Not In My Name (2003)
- Saul Williams (2004)
Guest and compilation appearances
- "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" (with 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" (with Sacajawea) on Dreams of Water Themes by Adventure Time (2003)
- "Wake up Show Freestyles by Sway and King Tech (2004)
- "Three Fingers" on Enter the Chicken by Buckethead & Friends (2005)
- "Sea Lion (Extended)" (with Will Oldham) on "Sea Lion" by Sage Francis (2005)
- "Mr. Nichols" on Sound Mirrors by Coldcut (2006)
- "April Showers, April Tears" on ¿What by Stuart Davis (2006)
- ",said the shotgun to the head" on Thomas Kessler by Thomas Kessler (2006)
Bibliography
Filmography
- Downtown 81 (narrator)(1981/2000)
- Underground Voices (1996)
- Slam (1998)
- SlamNation (1998)
- I'll Make Me a World (1999)
- K-PAX (2001)
- Lackawanna Blues (2005)
External links
de:Saul Williams
fr:Saul Williams
it:Saul Williams
hu:Saul Williams
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