Saul Williams on Camera
August 2, 2006 3:36 PM Subscribe
Saul Williams on camera: Black Stacey [.ram, .asx, or YouTube], List of Demands [.ram, .asx, or original version at YouTube], Coded Language with DJ Krust [.asx or YouTube], and a formidable 16-minute spoken word clinic [Google video]. [NSFW language.]
I do, at least if you mean do people like being warned about them.
posted by rollbiz at 4:11 PM on August 2, 2006
posted by rollbiz at 4:11 PM on August 2, 2006
Images by Tyrone Greene
Performed by Eddie Murphy (date unknown)
Dark and lonely on a summer's night
Kill my landlord
Kill my landlord
Watchdog barking
Do he bite?
Kill my landlord
Kill my landlord
Slip in his window
Break his neck
Then his house
I start to wreck
Got no reason
What the heck
Kill my Landlord
Kill my landlord
C-I-L-L
my l a n d l o r d
posted by vronsky at 4:44 PM on August 2, 2006
Performed by Eddie Murphy (date unknown)
Dark and lonely on a summer's night
Kill my landlord
Kill my landlord
Watchdog barking
Do he bite?
Kill my landlord
Kill my landlord
Slip in his window
Break his neck
Then his house
I start to wreck
Got no reason
What the heck
Kill my Landlord
Kill my landlord
C-I-L-L
my l a n d l o r d
posted by vronsky at 4:44 PM on August 2, 2006
Because Saul Williams is a remarkably talented man and there is a good chance that you will enjoy his work?
posted by Simon! at 4:44 PM on August 2, 2006
posted by Simon! at 4:44 PM on August 2, 2006
My english professor had him for poetry class and She siad he was an experience even then. He did a little movie called Slam. I wholeheartedly reccomend it.
posted by Rubbstone at 6:03 PM on August 2, 2006
posted by Rubbstone at 6:03 PM on August 2, 2006
I think Mr.Williams deserves better videos, to be honest. I love the man to death, he's as charismatic as all get out in person, but when I watch List Of Demands I get none of that.
posted by redsparkler at 6:05 PM on August 2, 2006
posted by redsparkler at 6:05 PM on August 2, 2006
Every time I hear Saul Williams read a poem I want to go write one of my own which includes referneces to my third nipple.
posted by eustacescrubb at 6:27 PM on August 2, 2006
posted by eustacescrubb at 6:27 PM on August 2, 2006
Because Saul Williams is a remarkably talented man and there is a good chance that you will enjoy his work?
It's a good thing I made sure to mention the YouTube links, then, or it might seem like I simply had something against .ram and .asx, and still watched the YT versions.
Oh, wait, I didn't mention the YT links. Guess I had something against .ram and .asx, and still watched the YT versions.
Heh. Heh.
posted by secret about box at 6:33 PM on August 2, 2006
It's a good thing I made sure to mention the YouTube links, then, or it might seem like I simply had something against .ram and .asx, and still watched the YT versions.
Oh, wait, I didn't mention the YT links. Guess I had something against .ram and .asx, and still watched the YT versions.
Heh. Heh.
posted by secret about box at 6:33 PM on August 2, 2006
Yup. He's quite capable of wowing an audience on technique alone. I had to follow Saul at a festival last month after he'd just bludgeoned the tent with his quarter-of-an-hour lyrical barnstormer. How are you supposed to top that?
posted by RokkitNite at 6:57 PM on August 2, 2006
posted by RokkitNite at 6:57 PM on August 2, 2006
Holy moley, RokkitNite, that is not an enviable position.
posted by redsparkler at 7:52 PM on August 2, 2006
posted by redsparkler at 7:52 PM on August 2, 2006
Vronsky. Nice. Please make sure you whip out the trusty SNL references every single time you find a post about hip hop or black poetry in general, because that's so damn awesome. Way to go.
But seriously, Saul Williams is a force to be reckoned with. His delivery is impeccable, his range of genre is fearless (encompassing hip hop, rock, punk), his presence demands attention like a church sermon and his rhymes are absolutely brilliant. He doesn't use pre-recorded backbeats as a rule ("I ain't gonna rhyme on top no track"), touring instead with a three-piece band featuring drums, keyboards/turntables and violin. He handles the guitar work himself.
And the references in his poetry. Just ... well ... you saw the earlier thread about Pullman's His Dark Materials? He's read it.
And no-one seems to recognise
The symbols come to life,
The bitten apple on the screen
And Jesus had a wife,
And she was his messiah
Like that stranger may be yours,
Who holds a subtle knife
That carves through worlds
Like magic doors,
And that’s what I’ve been looking for ...
(from "Talk To Strangers")
I saw the man in Atlanta back in November of 2004. Right around the last presidential election. He was in perfect form, if maybe a little apprehensive. A month later, I wrote up a review of the show for JIVE Magazine.
Make this thread about bad codecs and RealPlayer if you wish, but please don't miss the mighty subject matter.
posted by grabbingsand at 8:46 PM on August 2, 2006
But seriously, Saul Williams is a force to be reckoned with. His delivery is impeccable, his range of genre is fearless (encompassing hip hop, rock, punk), his presence demands attention like a church sermon and his rhymes are absolutely brilliant. He doesn't use pre-recorded backbeats as a rule ("I ain't gonna rhyme on top no track"), touring instead with a three-piece band featuring drums, keyboards/turntables and violin. He handles the guitar work himself.
And the references in his poetry. Just ... well ... you saw the earlier thread about Pullman's His Dark Materials? He's read it.
And no-one seems to recognise
The symbols come to life,
The bitten apple on the screen
And Jesus had a wife,
And she was his messiah
Like that stranger may be yours,
Who holds a subtle knife
That carves through worlds
Like magic doors,
And that’s what I’ve been looking for ...
(from "Talk To Strangers")
I saw the man in Atlanta back in November of 2004. Right around the last presidential election. He was in perfect form, if maybe a little apprehensive. A month later, I wrote up a review of the show for JIVE Magazine.
Make this thread about bad codecs and RealPlayer if you wish, but please don't miss the mighty subject matter.
posted by grabbingsand at 8:46 PM on August 2, 2006
I absolutely love Saul Williams. That last link was incredible. Thanks a bunch.
posted by philcliff at 9:15 PM on August 2, 2006
posted by philcliff at 9:15 PM on August 2, 2006
I had the good fortune of meeting Saul about two years ago during the Plea for Peace tour. I was volunteering for Music For America and he came back to say thank you and chatted with me a bit after his show. As volatile as he can be on stage, he can be an incredibly mellow, funny, and laid back person off-stage.
Thanks for the post. Saul's the man.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:01 PM on August 2, 2006
Thanks for the post. Saul's the man.
posted by Ufez Jones at 10:01 PM on August 2, 2006
I'd never heard of the man until I saw him supporting Nine Inch Nails in the UK last year. It was a tough crowd, but he won everyone over with his very confident and intelligent performance.
He introduced one of his songs by saying 'This is a song about what it feels like to take your t-shirt off... and still be black' which got a rather good reception from the metalhead crowd.
He's cool in my book. So, thanks for this!
posted by slimepuppy at 4:22 AM on August 3, 2006
He introduced one of his songs by saying 'This is a song about what it feels like to take your t-shirt off... and still be black' which got a rather good reception from the metalhead crowd.
He's cool in my book. So, thanks for this!
posted by slimepuppy at 4:22 AM on August 3, 2006
I saw Saul Williams at the Siren Festival at Coney Island in '05, and really wish I was at a computer with speakers right now... thanks for the links!
posted by jrb223 at 7:43 AM on August 3, 2006
posted by jrb223 at 7:43 AM on August 3, 2006
Oh, I see: Saul Williams, slam poet. That information would have been useful in the FPP.
I liked the last link a lot. He's got skills.
posted by squirrel at 8:29 AM on August 3, 2006
I liked the last link a lot. He's got skills.
posted by squirrel at 8:29 AM on August 3, 2006
"Please make sure you whip out the trusty SNL references every single time you find a post about hip hop or black poetry in general, because that's so damn awesome. Way to go."
Well... if you insist.
Subject: Gonna Get Me a Shotgun
Gonna Get Me a Shotgun
Performed by Garrett Morris on 24 Jan 1976 (Peter Cook and Dudley Moore)
I'm gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see,
I'm gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see.
When I kill all the whities I see, then whitey he won't bother me,
I'm gonna get me a shotgun and kill all the whities I see.
Then I'll get a white woman who's wearing a navy blue sweater.
posted by vronsky at 3:35 PM on August 3, 2006
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posted by secret about box at 3:59 PM on August 2, 2006