saul_williams_-_dna.jpg

Saul made lifetime fans at Lollapalooza this year. I was one of them. The man’s words speak for themselves — forcefully, and across various mediums — but none convey the power and showmanship he put in their service that day. Joined by his daughter Saturn (as he was in the “Sunday Bloody Sunday” video) and fittingly Tardusted in an intergalactic, aboriginal Ziggy glam getup, he laid waste to the stage and the crowd that thought it was just meant to be killing time before the Girl Talk set. This video, for LP cut “DNA,” pits him in frame rates and camera lenses as disoriented as his pitch-shifted vocal. Eventually everything comes into focus, like his lyrics promise they will, but not before Saul shuffles through the ghosts in his iPod and makes the cipher complete.

I’m a fan of that man. The video’s directed by Greg Brunkalla (see also: “List of Demands“). The two came up with the idea and executed it in a hotel room, in an hour. What did you do today?

The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust! is out.

Comments (9)
  1. A-Scar  |   Posted on Sep 16th, 2008

    Check out sauls insanely great books , Said the Shotgun to the Head, and the Dead MC Scrolls and let them change your life and mind.

  2. hollsa  |   Posted on Sep 16th, 2008

    the man’s a genius. a true renaissance poet, artist, rapper et al.

  3. I’m really happy people are finally recognizing Saul’s genius. I’m surprised it took until lollapalooza for the indie rock press (pitchfork, stereogum) to write so glowingly about him. You guys should really see him in a club…I saw him in a 400 person rock club in april and it was incredible. the most punk rock show i’ve ever seen….and he’s omar from the wire’s brother…how cool can you get… ha

  4. Chadams  |   Posted on Sep 17th, 2008

    Saul can do anything – plain & simple.

  5. saul t. weiner  |   Posted on Sep 17th, 2008

    yeah i agree that it took a while for him to get some real attention from the indie blog outlets. anyway, he’s awesome and the live show is fuckin sick. saw him at SXSW and it was badass…he ruled the crowd and they loved every feathery second of it.

  6. adding wood to the fire – but definitely the most electrifying set at lollapalooza…

  7. I’ve been following Saul since SLAM came out (I was seven, but still! My whole family was enraptured by that film), and I was so happy to see him at Lolla.

    “Is this…Saul.. Williams guy any good? Right…When is Girl Talk coming on? Have you ever seen them before?”

    Oh, those GT fans didn’t know what the fuck they were in for.

  8. also, if you ever get the chance to see him do a spoken word set… awesome stuff

  9. check out his spoken word stuff, awesome

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJHquOEChRg

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