Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails project roared back to life after his deal with Interscope came to an acrimonious close. He issued two self-released albums, the instrumental set Ghosts I-IV and Slip, which were both given away free on the internet before being released formally. That said, it is this production project of his by poet cum rapper Saul Williams that may be of the greatest interest aesthetically for two reasons: first there is the collaborative aspect of the work, equal parts Williams' and Reznor's. Second, it too was given away online before the disc appeared on the Fader label. The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust grafts more than its title from David Bowie's classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. Niggy is Williams' alter ego just as Ziggy was Bowie's. By invoking the master of disguise, the weight falls on Williams' to deliver an album worthy of that comparison. Williams' Niggy feels no such pressure but he lays down a ton anyway.
From Reznor's textured ambience and scorched earth synths, Williams has crafted harder beats here than on anything he's done before. (It's more focused than anything Reznor's done in recent years, too.) If anything, this feels like the dense, layered steel noise laid down by the Bomb Squad with Public Enemy, updated for the 21st century -- check the constant loop of Chuck D's voice from Welcome to the Terrordome as a rhythmic device on "Tr(n)igger." This is Saul Williams unleashed. The shredded synth and rhythm machines on "Black History Month" provoke Williams: "Can you feel it/I'm tougher than bullets baby/Nothin can save ya, better pray to your savior..." Bowie channeling Iggy channeling the Roots? And he's right in those opening lines: Williams ups the bar, embracing both resistance and empowerment with a conceptual wall of noise that breaks the back of the gangster MCs, and pushes hard on the media stereotype of hip-hop -- until it breaks. A fantastic example of this is the choice of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" as a cover. It keeps the melody but turns the music inside out, leaving rags in its wake. For Williams, "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" is everyday in the neighborhood, but it needn't be. He answers it immediately on "Break": "And when my fears arise/I blow 'em out/Get it out, spit it out, get it out..." as the sonic wall tenses under his voice, then coils as he begins speaking white heat from the street to the heavens. Or maybe just the listener -- to Williams, they're the same. The searing beats and raw edges here are tougher than Trick's -- or anything in the scattered blur of trip-hop -- nor does it resemble the current hip-hop stream.
This outsider blend is a partnership that feels like a new paradigm for hip-hop itself. Here, accepted and ignored notions of race and class are ripped to shreds leaving in their wake not a power structure but a different perception with rhythm as the soundtrack of that change. In "Ritual," Williams leaves the "corpses" of stereotypes "in the furnace." But he begins again on the spoken "Pedagogues of the Young Gods" (a bonus five-cut suite for the CD version). Those final five tracks are a self and cultural analysis, to a palette of crushing low end rhythms, warped futuristic synth loops (ŕ la Bowie's Low), and a skittering drum kit, in a search and destroy mission for remaining ignorance. This is Williams' finest moment, and interestingly, one of Reznor's, too.
So I haven't been mogging for a long time, mostly because of time constraints, but I'm coming back (albeit rather slowly). I decided to celebrate my reintroduction into mog culture by talking about Saul Williams new album: "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!" This album can be found on "Saul Williams Website.":http://niggytardust.com/ You can either download the album in 192...
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Bruce over at Hypebot drops some rather astounding factual stuff on us about Simon Fuller's wholesale takeover of the American pop charts. Unfortunately, he then gets his briefs in a twist about things like "authenticity" and "meaning " and "depth" in music, something neither he, nor the argument, is necessarily cut out for.What's amazing about Simon and Idol, and much more interesting than ba...
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I just found these cool episodes of Saul Williams' Niggy TV. They feature concert footage, interviews and ideas all straight from the man himself: Niggy TV - Episode 1:Hear Saul talk about the video for Convict Colony. Niggy TV - Episode 2:Niggy Tardust? Barak Obama? Watch Episode 2 and find out. Watching those 2 episodes, and any Saul Williams videos for that matter, makes me wonder:Is Saul W...
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I love this new Saul Williams video! The imagery is amazing and eerie and of course Saul is a poet as ever on "Convict Colony": Saul Willams: Convict Colony - The video was directed by Chris Edley and Rob Leitzell - the same team who orchestrated the MGMT videos for "Time To Pretend" and "Electric Feel." Edley spoke at length with FADER Mag, which is the mothership of the FADER label who rel...
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Saul Williams from Niggy Tardust, video is pretty intense, but that is just Saul for you.Saul Williams "Sunday Bloody Sunday"Uploaded by wpg202. - See the latest featured music videos.
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This video isn't brand new, but I sure missed it until now and I see no one else on MOG has posted it yet... Here is the official video for Saul Williams' cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" from The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust and produced by Trent Reznor:
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!http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3021/2312251410_c7fe86fb29.jpg?v=0!Gotta finish the HHT-Rez trilogy with Saul Williams' brillian Niggy Tardust. If you haven't downloaded this album, shame on you. It's going to be one of those records that influence the kids for years to come.This really isn't a video, but I'm at work and can't upload any mp3s, so just crank it. Let it out, blow it out, spit it ...
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Greg Brunkalla (director of "List of Demands") was in LA this summer and got a call from Saul Williams. He was calling to see if they could film something quickly for Saul's website. They got together at Greg's hotel and quickly started brainstorming about other things they could film. An hour later this "DNA" video is what they came up with. All shot in a hotel room, in slow motion, and out of...
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HIP HOP THURSDAY?This poet turned actor (Slam) turn performer (rapper is too one dimensional for him) and his last s/t album is quite good. Its one of the only Zach De La Rocha sightings in years and it fucking pumps. He fuses poetry , hip hop and rock into a whole new sub-genre. "Sauls site":http://www.saulwilliams.com/ is pretty cool and you will see he is quite active. I love the guy and su...
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Saul Williams, one of hip-hops poet laureates, has been getting a lot of attention lately for his collaboration with Trent Reznor and his promotion of DRM-free music. But what I haven't heard anyone talk about is a move that's seeming incongruous with a political rap leader who's worked with the likes of Zak De La Rocha and the Fugees, the selling of his song for a Nike ad:Nike spotI don't have...
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I saw this yesterday on Saul Williams' myspace. Don't ask me why I was there in the first place because I honestly do not remember. I do remember thinking as I was reading this letter that it seemed really appropriate for this time as we are celebrating Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and looking back upon the struggles of black Americans for freedom and equality. Are we in a place now that we ca...
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I'm wary when it comes to a superstar(in this case Trent Reznor)lending his name to an "upcoming" artist because he/she thinks this artist is great. Why? Cream rises to the top, right? If its good then the music will make it to the ears of the willing, right? I like Saul Williams and he would make it to my ears regardless of who endorses and/or produces his music. That said this track is s...
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So I haven't been mogging for a long time, mostly because of time constraints, but I'm coming back (albeit rather slowly). I decided to celebrate my reintroduction into mog culture by talking about Saul Williams new album: "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!" This album can be found on "Saul Williams Website.":http://niggytardust.com/ You can either download the album in 192...
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Was inevitable that the two collaborate :) Not bad visuals set to a crazy track :O
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So, in the spirit of yesterday's post I'm posting the following from Saul Williams:When I first saw the video for Kanye West's "Sierre Leone" I thought it was ABOUT something. Imagine my surprise and chagrin.
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Saul made lifetime fans at Lollapalooza this year. I was one of them. The man's words speak for themselves -- forcefully, and across various mediums -- but none convey the power and showmanship he put in their service that day. Joined by his daughter Saturn (as he was in the "Sunday Bloody Sunday " video) and fittingly Tardusted in an intergalactic, aboriginal Ziggy glam getup, he laid waste to...
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| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Black History Month |
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| 2 Convict Colony |
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| 3 Tr(n)igger |
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| 4 Sunday Bloody Sunday |
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| 5 Break |
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| 6 Niggy Tardust |
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| 7 DNA |
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| 8 WTF! |
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| 9 Scared Money |
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| 10 Raw |
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| 11 Skin Of A Drum |
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| 12 No One Ever Does |
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| 13 Banged And Blown Through |
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| 14 Raised To Be Lowered |
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| 15 The Ritual |
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| 16 Pedagogue Of Young Gods |
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| 17 World On Wheels |
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| 18 Can't Hide Love |
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| 19 Gunshots By Computer |
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| 20 List Of Demands (Reparations) |
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Click to purchase…
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 "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust")
