Years ago, I got to hang out with the incomparable Saul Williams. It was one of my first celebrity interviews, and at the time I was terrified that this bohemian mascot would call me an idiot and refuse my questions.
Strangely, the exact opposite occurred, and in between his jokes and iconic New York tales, I was genuinely impressed with my interview subject. Recently I found a reprint of my original interview (someone stole it and re-purposed it for a magazine, which isn’t cool), so I decided to repost it here, since his new album and conversation catalyst The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust will hit shelves soon.
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Dressed in a vintage baby blue parka, brown pants, and worn brown moccasins, Saul Williams looks straight out of the pages of ‘Bohemian Today Magazine,’ if there were such a thing. Seated Indian style on a wooden legged steel table in a random office at Fader Records, the poet/actor is very disarming and actually self-deprecating as we engage in a discussion about his new self-titled album. This is surprising considering his onscreen and onstage persona often comes off as enraged and a bit self righteous. He considers his aloof public perception to be his own fault.
My friends perceive me as a jokester," he explains, his face tempered with a wry smile. "But when I lived in New York and did these poetry readings I would have in my head, I’m a walk on stage, I ain’t gonna say shit, just recite the poem and walk off. So I’m responsible for that, I have given out that persona.
But that detached persona actually worked well for the native New Yorker. Saul’s poetic bravado, which is very similar to MC’ing, eventually earned him nods from a lot of hip hop heads, garnering collabo’s with Wu-Tang and Erykah Badu. His spoken word skills eventually led him to a starring role in the feature film Slam. He has since parlayed that notoriety into book deals, television roles, and now music.
His sophomore album, an odd yet compelling collection of poems set to trippy beats, has a sounds all its own, described by Saul as industrial punk-hop. "Because the album is self titled, it was important to represent the different sides of me," he says, listing influences from Jimi Hendrix to Jesus. "I do spend a lot of time ruminating over things happening in Iraq, what’s happening here, what’s happening in hip hop. That shit touches me in profound ways. It hurts me when I hear shit that is just stupid, like the whole diamond thing, blinging (in reference to the African Diamond trade), it fucks with me."
Don’t be confused. Saul’s not one of those artists who nitpicks the foibles of hip hop culture, he’s actually energized about most of its movement. "The only thing that I have prayed for in hip hop is balance. I just want to see a balance for things I feel. The number one album in the country this year was Outkast, and I couldn’t be happier," he shrugs, "And then on the other side, I can’t get enough of that Fat Joe song. It’s such a classic New York dance song. It’s been a long time since I been in the club and everyone was doing the same dance. I think the last time was while listening to SuperCat and everyone was doing the bogle dance."
Williams is confident the world is ready for his brand of conscience styled hip hop, citing emergent popularity of poets/artists Jill Scott and Mos Def. "We’re living in very important times," he says, "And the fact of the matter is. If you look at a religious book such as the Bible, it says that in the beginning was the word and the word was God. And then it goes on to say and God says blah, blah, blah and then it was. Not God thought it, or painted it - God said it. My belief is that God resonates within all of us, and what we say we call into existence. Word Up, Word is Bonn, Word Life, There is an immense amount of power in lyrics."
Besides juggling nouns and verbs on wax, Williams has also amassed a pretty impressive acting career, even landing an unexpected stint on UPN’s estrogen heavy Girlfriends. "I know the producers of the show," he says, defending his presence on the conventional sitcom. "They said they were trying to find a way to appeal to black bohemians. So when I found out Common and I were on the first episode I thought, they really want the black bohemian."
Black bohemian title withstanding, Williams is very much a contemporary renaissance man, dabbling in a cornucopia of artful albeit semi successful endeavors. With the versatility to shift from angry poet to funky rock star he credits his own insatiable desire to create as his inspiration. "Half the reason I write music is for the opportunity to perform," he explains "And I write to feel the void between what I am hearing and what I’d like to hear. If I feel there aren’t enough political songs, then that tells me I need to write a political song." If only we all could be that observant.
Tags: Saul Williams
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