Saul Williams (us)

Saul Williams has been breaking ground since his debut album, Amethyst Rock Star, produced by Rick Rubin, was released in 2001. He has recorded in Senegal, Reunion Island, Paris, Haiti, New Orleans and New York for his most recent record Martyr Loser King, released in january 2016. The album is best described as a multimedia project that engages the digital dialogue between the 1st and 3rd Worlds, and the global street sounds that yoke the two. “In Senegal, I was buying iPhones for $20, Beats for $10, because they get all the influx from China, with no regulation,” Williams explains. “So everyone’s online. Everyone’s high tech.” He sights Beyoncé, Fredo Santana, and Haitian field recordings as musical inspirations for his self-produced 6th album, straining trap hi-hats and mbira strokes together for a nuanced, entirely original sound. “I’m just letting you know what I’m reading and seeing while I’m writing. When I’m writing, the music leads.”