Saul has been touring with Nine Inch Nails for the last few years, opening for Trent and company during the With Teeth tour, with his brand of slam poetry mixed with live beats (or “hip-hop”, as some like to refer to it). Race has always played a role in his music, preceding his performance of “Black Stacy” by telling the crowd of antsy white goth kids waiting for Trent, that when they get home they have the option to remove their black t-shirt and black nail polish, but for him, blackness is a part of who he is.

Released as a digital only LP, the album is offered at NiggyTardust.Com, much like Radiohead’s In Rainbows – download it for free at 192kbps, or pay for a high-quality version. The album sounds much like a Nine Inch Nails record (and that’s a good thing), as Saul uses Trent’s beats to animate his spoken word poetry, creating a style of forward thinking hip-hop that you might find on a label like Definitive Jux.

The album begins with “Black History Month”, a blistering, thundering beat meshed with CX Kidtronik’s slurred background vocals, as Saul goes on a sarcastic rant suggesting the death of hip-hop, “lace your Shelltoes up like it was Black History Month.” This type of attitude is present through much of the album, again surfacing on “Tr(n)igger”, which lifts an 8-bar loop from Public Enemy’s “Welcome To The Terrordome”, meshing it with more sounds provided by Saul and Trent, for sound that’s even more Bomb Squad. Here, Saul questions our nature to use violence to solve problems, coming to the conclusion that man and gun are one in the same.

If that doesn’t raise eyebrows and inspire some self-examination, the title track “Niggy Tardust” will. Here, Saul introduces his alter ego to fans, very ironically suggesting “when I say Niggy, you say nothing”, exploring the use of the N-word in rap lyrics by sing-a-long white fans. Trent’s track is built off of a broken beat synth and a flattened, buzzing guitar riff that weaves around the beat. This is the prime example of what a hip-hop song produced by NIN would sound like – and it works.

The other side of the spectrum is explored as well – what a hip-hop artist would sound like doing his best Nine Inch Nails rendition. This isn’t a bad thing, nor is it biting, since it’s Trent behind the boards, but Saul gets his (amethyst) rockstar on several of the albums sung vocal tracks. “WTF” is pure Nine Inch Nails, as Saul vents his frustrations to a blistering climax over ominous pianos and a trademark distorted bassline. Again, on “No One Ever Does”, we find Saul in self-reflection over a mellow keyboard driven track, much in the vien of NIN’s own “Hurt,” but not nearly as depressing. Most surprisingly, we are treated to an amazing cover of U2′s “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, which is done completely in the Nine Inch Nails style.

The two worlds – rock and hip-hop mesh together and produce some of the album’s greatest results as it closes out. “Skin Of A Drum” has a building track that travels back to Trent’s industrial roots, as Saul speaks his lyrics with growing ferocity, bursting into song by the time the hook hits. “Raised To Be Lowered” takes this same approach as well, executing this style even better.

The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust is a great album from Saul Williams, easily his best yet. Critics may blast him for adopting the Nine Inch Nails sound – and naturally Trent does it better than him – but it’s kind of like listening to a Common album produced by Kanye – the two sounds go good together, so we aren’t mad at it at all. Spend five bucks and open your mind to some of the most original (and still listenable) hip-hop music you’ll ever hear. - Pizzo

   In, are a sparser, grimmer, rockier backdrop (including contributions by Thavius Beck and System Of A Down’s Serj Tankian), lyrics charged with a rough’n’ready energy and short, focused songs that showcase a Saul eager to get up close and spit (or even scream) in your face. This is “Penny For Your Thoughts” Saul turned up to eleven: scared, bleeding and frantic with desperation.

     At first listen, these defiantly bald and grinding compositions can be hard going, but give them time and it becomes evident that Saul has left behind neither his penetrating insight nor his lacerating honesty, and he stills channels his extraordinary world view through brilliant turns of phrase that place him amongst the premiere MCs of all time. One could quote almost of all of “Telegram”, his State Of Emergency address to hip-hop (“Please inform all interested parties that cash nor murder have been added to the list of elements”); go on about the way “African Student Movement”, in a mere four minutes, captures the ongoing history of atrocities towards African peoples of all kinds over crude hypnotic bass that’s revealed as essentially African; analyse how the Zach De La Rocha-featuring “Act III Scene 2 (Shakespeare)” welds hip-hop into literary tradition whilst making an impassioned “call out to the youth”: none of this would capture the intensity of Saul on record. Nor would I have mentioned “Black Stacey”, the most intimate and intelligent dissection of racism since “Clear Blue Skies”, that builds from simple ragtime piano into a lush string-led anthem with a killer beat  and an instantly memorable chorus.

     This is not a perfect record, either musically or lyrically (Saul still gets lost in his own wordplay sometimes), but it is easily the most passionate hip-hop album to come out this year, and the most powerful (both politically and emotionally) if you’re brave enough to listen. No other MC will make you reconsider the world around you the way Saul Williams will. He hasn’t changed.

How is this new self titled release different that Amethyst Rock Star?

It’s much more song driven. The first one was more beats with poetry. This one is really about the songs. There is very little actual poetry on the album most of the album I wrote the music first.

You produced most of the songs yourself, what did you use?

Yamaha EX5, MPC and I recorded on a Roland VS1680. I wanted it to sound live. So some of it I would record the vocals while the music was blasting in the background so it had a live feel.

The press release said the album took only 10 days to record.

Yeah, that’s kind of bullshit.

Really?

Yeah. I was only in the studio for 10 days that’s true. I wrote maybe one song in the studio and everything else I dumped down from my equipment at home and fixed it up in the studio.

Serj from System of a Down is involved in one track, how did that come about?

He is a friend and about maybe a year ago he was like “Saul i’d like to collaborate with you sometime,” and he came up with this track. He gave it to me right at the last minute. I was in the studio, it was during those 10 days. It ended up being the first song “Talk To Strangers”. I was like oh my god, because I was trying to find an introduction and I thought it was beautiful.

What’s your writing process? Do you just sit down and write?

I write different ways different times. I keep a journal. Sometimes music gives me an idea, sometimes a conversation, other times its some kind of an emotional crisis where I need to write.

I heard you are working on a play. How is that coming along?

Its coming slowly but surely. I’m taking my time with it. A one man show. Its about hip-hop and our generation.

How do you feel about hip-hop right now?

I’m cool.

You’re happy with it?

Yeah, my whole thing has been about the balance. Well, granted we went through a wack period. But its not like that shit shouldn’t be out as long as there is balance out there. There is a certain part of hiphop that is under represented. I came from the ghetto too. There are tons of kids like me in society, African American kids from the ghetto that are choosing not to be thugs. I just feel under represented.

Have you ever considered being less esoteric and being more straight forward to get your messages out there to the youth?

I never really made a decision to be esoteric. It’s just I am who I am. But with this album I tried to not go to the point of overboard. I choose to have fun. Songs like “Grippo” and “Black Stacy” are first takes. It was like “I’m going to write this real quick”.

Why did you decide to publish your book through MTV books?

I choose to publish through MTV because of there demographic. I’m trying to reach people. They don’t give a fuck about what my book says. They don’t ask me to change anything. They gave me opportunities like doing a commercial and putting on the station. It gives me an opportunity to actually reach and infiltrate the mainstream without compromising my beliefs or my writing in any way.

What is your opinion on freedom in america? It seems like at times we have so much but we don’t take advantage of it.

I think we are more loose than free. Kind of like a dog on a chain playing in the yard. He thinks he is free but if he gets too far he feels this tug on the chain and is told to come back. I do think with kind of overlook our responsibilities that come with the power that we have. I think the freedom is there to experience but what I think most people associate with freedom in this nation is comfort. It’s not really freedom. There is also a great deal of fear in going beyond a certain point and a great deal of selfishness and not realizing that your comfort comes at the cause of others discomfort.

If you could recommend a book to somebody reading this, what would you suggest?

It depends on the person and what they are experiencing in life. I just read this book that I love called The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Its about the wife of a man who time travels. It’s a love story but its not sci fi. Its beautiful. I’ve been on the last couple pages for the past few days because I don’t want it to end.