Saul Williams - a true rap pioneer

Saul Williams, born in Newburgh, New York in 1974, isand played Lollapalooza in 2006, bringing his music to
an American rap artist, writer and actor known fora wider audience.
his eclectic blend of poetry and hip-hop. He is alsoHis friendship with Trent Reznor led to an agreement
known for his role as Ray Joshua in the independentthat Reznor would produce Williams' next album, 'The
film 'Slam', which won the Grand Jury Prize for aInevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!'
Dramatic Film at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival.Released last November, it is only available at
Unlike most mainstream rap artists, who at least claimniggytardust.com, where users can download
to have lived a former life of sin before turning tomid-quality mp3s (192 kbps) of the album for free,
rap, Saul entered the world of music after pursuingor, if they choose to, pay $5 via credit card to
an academic career. After graduating fromsupport Williams directly and choose between
Morehouse College with a B.A. in Philosophy, Williamsmid-quality mp3s, high-quality mp3s (320 kbps) and
went on obtain a Master's Degree in acting from Newlossless FLAC files.
York University. While at NYU he found himself atReznor posted on the Nine Inch Nails homepage that
the centre of the New York cafe poetry scene,as of the beginning of this year, close to 155,000
where he would hone his poetry reading skills and inpeople had downloaded the record, and of those,
1996 he won the title of Nuyorican Poets Cafe's28,322, or just over 18% had chosen to pay for it.
Grand Slam Champion. Fame on the spoken-wordOut of those paying, 3220 chose mid-quality mp3s,
circuit led him onto the lead role in the 1998 feature19,764 chose high-quality mp3s and 5338 chose FLAC.
film 'Slam', and eventually to blend his oratory skillsThough these figures aren't enough to warrant a
with his love of rap music.Platinum certification, the business model gives fans
After releasing a string of EPs, he released his debutan impetus to do the right thing by giving them a
album, 'Amethyst Rock Star', produced by Rick Rubin,hassle-free way to show support for Williams, with
to critical acclaim in 2001. Labelled everything fromno restrictions like DRM placed on the music, and as
prog-hop to aggressive, urban chanting, Williamssuch, it can be seen as a success, especially
breathed fresh air into an increasingly stale andconsidering his last album sold 33,897 copies in the
clichéd genre. After touring in support of thethree years since its release.
album, he released his eponymous follow-up in 2004,Whether this way of releasing music will become a
which attracted attention of Nine Inch Nails fronttrend is yet to be seen, but the fact is that more
man, Trent Reznor, who would select Williams to bepeople have listened to Saul than ever before, and
NIN's support band while touring Europe on the 2005hopefully this year will see him receive the
'With Teeth' tour. He also supported the Mars Voltamainstream recognition he rightly deserves.