Name: Saul Williams
Genre: “Alternative hip-hop”
Listen to: Burundi
Though it feels patronising to “introduce” Saul Williams – an established and prolific artist – he is not as well-known as he perhaps should be. From his beginnings as a slam poet/actor in the 90s he built up his reputation as an innovative and socially aware wordsmith, and his debut film Slam – an independent film about a talented poet coping with poverty and gang culture in Washington, DC – won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival as well as the Cannes Camera D’Or the same year.
Williams has written for African Voices, Bomb Magazine, Esquire, and The New York Times, has travelled the world to give lectures and talks at universities, and released four books of his poetry (which are available here and here).
His break into music took place in the late 90s, and since then he has released 7 albums and has performed with many artists, from Zack de la Rocha (of Rage Against the Machine) to The Mars Volta to Nine Inch Nails. Currently, Williams is in the middle of promotion for his latest multi-media project entitled MartyrLoserKing (he really is a fan of portmanteaus) following a hacker from Burundi and his subversion of governments and social paradigms, which will contain a musical component that will be released on Fader this year. The two videos that have been released so far (“Burundi” and “Coltan as Cotton”) introduce MartyrLoserKing as a character and establish a strong theme for the coming album.
Just as the dark, opening string section promises powerful things to follow, so does the song itself promise the same for the album. The jarring footage of riots, infra-red video of a van being destroyed from above, and glitching, fuzzy images all combine to give the impression that Saul Williams is not messing about with this project; his fury is palpable in the line “fuck your history teacher, bitch, I’ve never been a victim,” alluding to the systematic view in western countries that people of colour are weak and are only mentioned as victims of the West’s actions. I for one can not remember ever having had any lessons in school about the achievements of people of colour, only their struggles. Coincidentally, “Burundi” was released at the same time as the political unrest in the country due to the unconstitutional third term application of the president, but the song could not have been released into a more appropriate atmosphere.
MartyrLoserKing will be unleashed on a world where on average three people are killed by US police every day, and every four days one of those people is unarmed, a world where the masses are becoming disillusioned with the current socio-political model, a world where government surveillance is reaching critical mass, a world ripe for revolution. And this will be the soundtrack
Words by Campbell Brooks