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{{short description|American singer, musician, poet, writer, and actor (born 1972)}}{{Use mdy dates|date=December 2014}}









! scope="row"| "Coded Language"| 1999| Krust| Coded Language! scope="row"| "Monkey Theme"| 2000| The Infesticons| Gun Hill Road! scope="row"| "Release"! scope="row"| "Playing House"| Tre Hardson| Liberation! scope="row"| "Sent from Sandy Shores"! scope="row"| "Time (Jungle)" (Temple of Soul Mix)| Wax Poetic| Nublu Sessions! scope="row"| "Freedom"| 2004| Karl Denson's Tiny Universe| {{n/a}}! scope="row"| "Three Fingers"! scope="row"| "Sea Lion" (Extended version)| Sage Francis, Will Oldham, Alias| {{n/a}}! scope="row"| "Lyrical Gunplay"! scope="row"| "Mr. Nichols"| Coldcut| Sound Mirrors! scope="row"| "April Showers, April Tears"! scope="row"| "Said the Shotgun to the Head"| Thomas Kessler| Thomas Kessler! scope="row"| "Survivalism" (backing vocals)! scope="row"| "Me, I'm Not" (backing vocals)! scope="row"| "Gunshots by Computer"! scope="row"| "Survivalism"! scope="row"| "Easter"| 2009| Stuart Davis| Sex, God, Rock 'n Roll: Songs from the TV Series! scope="row"| "U Can Do It"! scope="row"| "Dance or Die"| Janelle Monáe| The ArchAndroid! scope="row"| "Black Intro"| Vic Mensa| Straight Up! scope="row"| "Le Paradis II Est Chinois"! scope="row"| "Basquiat"! scope="row"| "Believe"| Ayọ| Billie-Eve! scope="row"| "Rendez-Nous L'Argent"| 2014| Nevche| Rétroviseur! scope="row"| "Money God"| 2015| Haleek Maul| Prince Midas! scope="row"| "Imperial Sound"! scope="row"| "The Virus"| A Tribe Called Red, Chippewa Travellers| We Are the Halluci Nation! scope="row"| "Wings"! scope="row"| "Faster"! scope="row"| "Ancestral Recall"! scope="row"|"Mental"! scope="row"| "The Entrance"| Niariu| Story of a Sad Mermaid

factoids
name	Saul Williams|image = Saul Williams (41115412604) (cropped).jpg|caption = Williams in 2018|background = solo_singer|birth_name = Saul Stacey Williams	1972	29|mf=yes{edih}	Newburgh (city), New York>Newburgh, New York, U.S.	Hip hop alternative hip hopWEB,weblink Saul Williams to Take 'Volcanic Sunlight' on North American Tour, Exclaim!, December 21, 2011, December 28, 2015, Adams, Gregory, experimental hip hopNEWS,weblink Kanye West's 'Yeezus' an uneasy listen, Chicago Tribune, Tony W. Hunter, Chicago, June 16, 2013, June 17, 2013, Kot, Greg,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20130820101622weblink">weblink August 20, 2013, industrial hip hop spoken word poetry }}	Rapper singer songwriter musician poet writer actor {edih}	Vocals bass guitar guitar keyboards percussion {edih}	Trent Reznor Nine Inch Nails The Mars Volta Rick Rubin The Kills {edih}	saulwilliams.com}}|module = factoids New York University {{small>(MFA)}}}}}}Saul Stacey Williams (born February 29, 1972) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, musician, poet, writer, and actor. He is known for his blend of poetry and alternative hip hop, and for his lead roles in the 1998 independent film Slam and the 2013 jukebox musical Holler If Ya Hear Me. Early life Saul Stacey Williams was born in Newburgh, New York, on February 29, 1972,WEB,weblink Saul Williams, Academy of American Poets, October 4, 2018, the youngest of three children. He attended Newburgh Free Academy, where he wrote his song "Black Stacey". He graduated from Morehouse College with a BA in acting and philosophy, then moved to New York City, where he earned an MFA in acting from New York University's Graduate Acting Program at the Tisch School of the Arts.WEB, NYU Graduate Acting Alumni,weblink 2011, 2011-12-08, May 30, 2012,weblink" title="archive.today/20120530061847weblink">weblink dead, NEWS, Ferrari, Sheppard, Saul William Interview,weblink May 6, 2010, While at New York University, he became part of the New York café poetry scene. He also lived in Brazil as an exchange student from 1988 to 1989. Career Poetry File:Saul Williams SXSW 2008.jpg|thumb|right|Williams live at SXSW 2008]]By 1995, Williams had become an open mic poet. In 1996, he won the title of Nuyorican Poets Cafe's Grand Slam Champion. The documentary film SlamNation follows Williams and the other members of the 1996 Nuyorican Poets Slam team (Beau Sia, muMs da Schemer, and Jessica Care Moore) as they compete in the 1996 National Poetry Slam held in Portland, Oregon. The following year, Williams landed the lead role in the 1998 feature film Slam. Williams featured as both a writer and actor in the film,Aptowicz, Cristin O'Keefe. (2008). Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam. Soft Skull Press, p. 226. {{ISBN|1-933368-82-9}}. which would win both the Sundance Festival Grand Jury Prize and the Cannes Camera D'Or (Golden Camera).WEB,weblink IMDB Awards page for Slam, IMDb.com, 2016-03-03, Music (File:Saul Williams concert.jpg|upright|thumb|left|200px|NiggyTardust! tour, Montreal (2008))Around 1998, Williams was also breaking into music. He had performed with such artists as Nas, The Fugees, Christian Alvarez, Blackalicious, Erykah Badu, KRS-One, Zack De La Rocha, De La Soul, Buckethead, and DJ Krust, as well as poets Allen Ginsberg and Sonia Sanchez. After releasing a string of EPs, he released the LP Amethyst Rock Star with producer Rick Rubin in 2001. In September 2004, he released 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 invited to the Lollapalooza music festival around that time, and the Chicago stage allowed Williams to attract a wider audience. He appeared on the Nine Inch Nails album Year Zero, and supported the group on their 2006 tour of North America. On the tour, Williams announced that Trent Reznor would co-produce his next album.WEB,weblink Saul Williams recording with Trent/Atticus, The NIN Hotline, March 13, 2006, 2008-01-10, This collaboration resulted in 2007's The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!. The album was available only from its website until a physical CD was issued, featuring new tracks and extended album artwork.WEB,weblink Interview: Saul Williams, May 9, 2008, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080427190145weblink">weblink April 27, 2008, The first 100,000 customers on the website had the option to download a free lower-quality audio version of the album. The other option was for users to pay $5 to support the artist directly and be given the choice of downloading the higher-quality MP3 version or the lossless FLAC version. The material was produced by Trent Reznor and mixed by Alan Moulder. It was Reznor who said, after his own recent dealings with record labels, that they should release it independently and directly to the audience.WEB,weblink Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) produced album by Saul Williams yours for zero dollar, November 1, 2007, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080428195638weblink">weblink April 28, 2008, In early 2008, a Nike Sparq Training commercial featured Williams' song "List of Demands (Reparations)". In a November 2008 interview with Wired.com, Williams talked about his forthcoming projects: "There's one album that I'm waist-deep into. I'm aiming to finish it up next month. Trent wants to work on a sequel for Niggy that I think would be cool, and I also have an album and new songs demoed at home that I'm ready to go into the studio and lay down. It’s a complete reflection of how I feel in this country; it's a very transformative time."MAGAZINE,weblink One Year Later, Saul Williams Talks Niggy Tardust's Wins, What's Next, Wired, 2008-11-11, 2016-03-03, Wortham, Jenna, Williams' fourth album, Volcanic Sunlight, was released on November 11, 2011. Williams showcased the album at London's Hoxton Bar Kitchen on January 26, 2011. Livemusic interviewed Williams on the evening and made a subsequent film, produced by artist Alex Templeton-Ward. When Williams was asked what the point of poetry was, he said: "I'm making this up, I have no idea but here we go. I think that it would be to express, to share, to relieve, to explore. For me, poetry offers some what of a cathartic experience. I am able to move through emotions and emotional experience particularly, you know, break-ups, difficulties in all the things that I may face, whether that is with an industry or a loved one or whomever, there needs to be an infiltration process, like you have a window open over there. That is the purpose of poetry: it is the window that opens, that allows some air in, some other insight, some other possibility so we can explore all that we feel, all that we think but with the space to see more than what we know, because there is so much more than we know. If I didn't open myself to the possibilities of the unknown, then I would be lost."Williams' fifth album, MartyrLoserKing, was released on January 29, 2016. The first single released from the album was "Burundi", a collaboration with Emily Kokal of Warpaint.WEB, 2015-06-10, Saul Williams Shares Video for "Burundi" Collaboration With Warpaint's Emily Kokal,weblink 2021-12-28, Pitchfork, en-US, In March 2018, The Kills released their cover of Williams' "List of Demands (Reparations)" and Williams opened for The Kills' sold-out performance at the Regent Theater in Los Angeles on August 13, 2018. Writing As a writer, Williams has been published in The New York Times, Esquire, Bomb Magazine, and African Voices, as well as releasing four collections of poetry. As a poet and musician, Williams has toured and lectured across the world, appearing at many universities and colleges. In his interview in the book Words in Your Face: A Guided Tour Through Twenty Years of the New York City Poetry Slam, Williams explained why he creates within so many genres: "It's not that I balance those arts out, all the different arts balance me out. So, that there is a certain type of emotion that is more easily accessible through music than poetry... some things are meant to be written, some are meant to be sung, some things are meant to be hummed, some things are made to be yelled, and so that's just how life works."Aptowicz (2008), Words in Your Face, p. 229.82-9.In January 2009, he released NGH WHT {{ndash}} The Dead Emcee Scrolls with The Arditti Quartet, a reading of his 2006 poetry book of the same name. This collaboration with Thomas Kessler (who also set Williams' spoken-word track ",said the shotgun to the head" to music) was released with two payment options: listeners could download chapters 18 to 22 of the 27-minute composition in MP3 format for free, or could download the entire 33-chapter composition in lossless AIFF format for $6, along with the isolated vocal and quartet multitracks. The entire paid download totalled in size at 563 megabytes.WEB,weblink NGH WHT - Dead Emcee Scrolls with The Arditti Quartet, Saulwilliams.com, 2016-03-03, Williams contributed to two tracks on the 2011 album Baba Love by Arthur H.WEB,weblink En studio avec Arthur H et Saul Williams, November 9, 2011, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20111115093550weblink">weblink November 15, 2011, Acting Williams starred in Slam (1998) and Today (2012). On stage, he was chosen for the lead role in Holler If Ya Hear Me, a Broadway musical featuring music by Tupac Shakur. Though it features Shakur's music, the musical is not about his life. It is an original script written by Todd Kreidler. Rolling Stone described the production as "the first hip-hop jukebox musical in Broadway history".MAGAZINE,weblink Hip-Hop's first jukebox musical debuts: tupac's "holler if ya hear me", Weingarten, Christopher, June 9, 2014, Rolling Stone, June 13, 2014, June 13, 2014,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140613014934weblink">weblink dead, The show opened on June 19, 2014.WEB,weblink Holler If Ya Hear Me, newyorkcitytheatre.com, June 13, 2014, Williams' role in the musical landed him an interview on The Colbert Report, where he spoke about his career and performed a poem entitled "Amethyst Rocks".WEB,weblink Saul Williams Talks 'Holler If Ya Hear Me' & Performs "Amethyst Rocks" On The Colbert Report, May 15, 2014, okayplayer.com, June 16, 2014, He received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor at the 9th Canadian Screen Awards in 2021, for his performance in the film Akilla's Escape.Brent Furdyk, "Canadian Screen Awards Announces 2021 Film Nominations" {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829095750weblink |date=August 29, 2021 }}. ET Canada, March 30, 2021. Directing In 2021, Neptune Frost, which Williams wrote and co-directed with Anisia Uzeyman, premiered in Cannes at Directors' Fortnight.WEB, Keslassy, Elsa, Cannes Directors' Fortnight Unveils 2021 Lineup – 'The Souvenir Part II,' 'Ali & Ava,' 'A Chiara,' 'Neptune Frost,' 'Futura' Among Selections,weblink Variety, 8 July 2021, 8 June 2021, The film was supported by a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2018.WEB, Wicks, Amanda, Saul Williams Shares New Song, Announces Film Kickstarter Campaign: Listen,weblink Pitchfork, July 14, 2018, 8 July 2021, Personal life Williams is a vegan.WEB,weblink Saul Williams Makes A Heartfelt Argument For Going Vegan, ecorazzi, 2009-04-11, February 4, 2020,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20200204201037weblink">weblink dead, He is a vocal critic of the War on Terrorism and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.WEB,weblink Interview with Saul Williams Loserdom #13, Loserdom zine, 2008-07-02, Among his better-known works are the anti-war anthems "Not in My Name" and "Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare)". In 2011, he added his name to Occupy Musicians, supporting the worldwide Occupy movement against income inequality.NEWS, Michaels, Sean, Lou Reed and Tom Morello support Occupy movement with new website. Pair are among first signatories of Occupy Musicians, a campaign supporting movement against income inequality,weblink The Guardian, September 7, 2012, London, November 22, 2011, He identifies as queer.WEB, Scott, Timberg,weblink How Saul Williams found courage: "Prince and Bowie liberated me as an artist to be queer", Salon (website), Salon, June 2, 2016, October 15, 2016, Williams and Marcia Jones, a visual artist and art professor,WEB,weblink Marcia Jones : Artist, January 7, 2014, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20140103140503weblink">weblink January 3, 2014, began their relationship in 1995 as collaborative artists on the Brooklyn performance art and spoken word poetry circuit. Their daughter, Saturn, was born in 1996.WEB,weblink VIDEO:SAUL WILLIAMS AND DAUGHTER ATTEND LOLLAPALOOZA FESTIVAL « BLACKCELEBRITYKIDS- Black Celebrity Kids,babies,and their Parents, blackcelebkids.com, 13 January 2022,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20081204191721weblink">weblink 4 December 2008, dead, A collection of poems by Williams entitled S/HE is a series of reflections on the demise of his relationship with Jones.WEB,weblink Marcia Jones, Nat Creole, 2008-08-18, Jones created the cover artwork for The Seventh Octave, images throughout S/HE in response to Williams, and set-designed his 2001 album Amethyst Rock Star. Saturn performed with her father on his 2008 concert tour.WEB,weblink Lollapalloza Report, Pitchfork, 2008-08-18, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080818061100weblink">weblink August 18, 2008, mdy, WEB,weblink EventOrb - Revolutionized Event Promotion, 2008-12-15, dead,weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20080929045122weblink">weblink September 29, 2008, mdy-all, Williams also has a son named Xuly with renowned choreographer Fatima Robinson.WEB,weblink Saul Williams: The Family Man - Black Celebrity Kids, Blackcelebkids.com, 2016-03-03, WEB,weblink Dancing between worlds - An interview with Saul Williams, LA review of books, DJ Lynnée Denise, March 5, 2019, On February 29, 2008 (his 36th birthday), Williams married actress Persia White after a five-year relationship. They met when he made a guest appearance on the series Girlfriends.WEB,weblink JPG, Feeding sheep : photo image, I2.tinypic.com, 2016-03-03, WEB,weblink Persia White attending the 19th Annual Genesis Awards - Arrivals and VIP Reception held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, CA on 3/19/2005 | SGG-059590, Prphotos.com, 2005-03-19, 2016-03-03, On January 17, 2009, White announced via her Myspace blog that she and Williams were no longer together.WEB,weblink Love Life and Friendship, blogs.myspace.com, 2009-01-18, He is now married to actress Anisia Uzeyman.NEWS, Saul Williams & Anisia Uzeyman make a film using iPhones,weblink 10 March 2017, thisisafrica.me, 28 June 2014, March 12, 2017,weblink dead, He lived in Paris for four years but now resides in Los Angeles.NEWS, Fox, Killian, Saul Williams: 'The bullshit lyricists have the catchiest hooks ',weblink 4 July 2016, The Guardian, 17 April 2016, Discography File:Saul Williams SXSW 2008 bass.jpg|thumb|right|Williams playing the bass at SXSW 2008]] Studio albums Amethyst Rock Star (2001) Saul Williams (2004) The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! (2007) NGH WHT (2009) {{small|(with Arditti Quartet)}} Volcanic Sunlight (2011) MartyrLoserKing (2016)MAGAZINE,weblink Saul Williams Shares "The Noise Came From Here", The Fader, December 18, 2015, December 28, 2015, Leight, Elias, Encrypted & Vulnerable (2019) Unanimous Goldmine (The Original Soundtrack of "Neptune Frost") (2022) Compilation albums Real Niggery Volume One (2005) These Mthrfckrs: MartyrLoserKing - Remixes, B-Sides, & Demos (2016) EPs Not in My Name (2003) Singles "Elohim (1972)" (1998) "Penny for a Thought" b/w "Purple Pigeons" (2000) "List of Demands (Reparations)" (2004) "Black Stacey" (2005) "The Flaw You Worship" (2018) Guest appearances{| class"wikitable plainrowheaders" style"text-align:center;"|+ List of guest appearances ! style="width:19em;" | Title! Year! Other performer(s)! Album
2002| Blackalicious, Zack de la Rocha, Lyrics Born, Sela Kerr| Blazing Arrow
2003| Adventure Time| Dreams of Water Themes
2005| Buckethead & Friends| Enter the Chicken
2006| Thavius Beck| Thru
	Stuart Davis (musician)>Stuart Davis| {{n/a}}
2007	Nine Inch Nails	Year Zero
		Year Zero Remixed
2010| Maeckes| Kids
2011	Arthur H	Baba Love
2016| Torae	Entitled (album)>Entitled
2017| Vic Mensa, Pharrell Williams	The Autobiography (Vic Mensa album)>The Autobiography
2017| Rone| Mirapolis
2019| Christian Scott	Ancestral Recall (album)>Ancestral Recall
2022|Denzel Curry, Bridget Perez|Melt My Eyez See Your Future

Bibliography

• The Seventh Octave, 1998, Moore Black Press, {{ISBN|0-9658308-1-0}}
• She, 1999, MTV/Pocketbooks, {{ISBN|0-671-03977-6}}
• Said the Shotgun to the Head, 2003, MTV/Pocketbooks, {{ISBN|0-7434-7079-6}}
• The Dead Emcee Scrolls, 2006, MTV/Pocketbooks, {{ISBN|1-4165-1632-8}}
• Chorus, 2012,BOOK, Williams, 978-1-4516-4983-3, Saul, Chorus: Saul Williams: Books, MTV Books, January 1, 2011,
• US (a.), 2015, Gallery Books/MTV Books, {{ISBN|9781476779324}}WEB, Williams, Saul,weblink US (a.) (9781451649833): Saul Williams: Books, nypl.org, 2016-04-28,

Filmography

(File:SaulWilliams by Rad.jpg|thumb|right|Williams in 2005)

Film

• Slam (1998)
• SlamNation (1998)
• Downtown 81 (voice) (1981/2000)
• Underground Voices (1996)
• I'll Make Me a World (1999)
• King of the Korner (2000)
• K-PAX (2001)
• The N-Word (2004)
• Lackawanna Blues (2005)
• Today (2012)
• Akilla's Escape (2020)
• Neptune Frost (2021)
• Blink Twice (2024)

Television

• Girlfriends (2003)
• The Colbert Report (2014)

{{clear}}

References

{{Reflist|30em}}

External links

{{Commons category|Saul Williams}}

• {{official websiteweblink|Saul Williams}} – official site
• {{discogs artist}}
• {{IMDb name|id=0931654|name=Saul Williams}}
• Saul Williams: Volcanic Sunlight
• weblink" title="web.archive.org/web/20120611040135weblink">Interview with Saul Williams (via Talk Rock To Me) May 4, 2012

{{Saul Williams}}{{Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor}}{{FESPACO Best Actor Prize|state=expanded}}{{Authority control}}