Dave Chamberlain

There's a fine line between attempting to open someone's mind to an idea, and preaching.

If music represents the medium of communication, then preaching too often becomes yelling, and nobody likes to be the target of yelling.

But Saul Williams knows that. The politically and socially conscious poet, musician and writer understands that in order to change someone's mind, you must not scream first and explain later. It's something he does with poetic flair throughout his second full-length record, "Saul Williams," the first record released by The Fader magazine's record label.

Known best for his featured part in the film "Slam," and for one-off tracks made with other artists (KRS-One, DJ Krust), Williams' strength as a musician comes from two sides: Lyrically, there's the gentle touch with which he makes his point known. Musically, a diverse breadth of sounds attack from every angle, sometimes like disturbed hip-hop, at other times like angry rock `n' roll, and still at other times moving into the electronic-music arena. With one listen to "Saul Williams," you can hear pieces of KRS-One, Krust, and his old producer Rick Rubin. "I'm exactly that," Williams explains, "an absorption of everything I've loved. And there's been a lot of music that I've loved over time. From Tricky to Radiohead to tons more."

But Williams hardly set out to make such a diverse record. "Whatever happened," he says, "wasn't premeditated. I produced the majority of the album myself. When I set out to make beats or produce music, I pretty much pull from stuff that I'm into. And it's been a long time since I was into straight-ahead hip-hop; however, my love of music stems from my initial love of hip-hop. Even though I love rock music as well, I still listen through a hip-hop filter. For instance, if I'm listening to Zeppelin, I'm gonna hear Bonham first."

Williams personifies the idea of modern poet as much as he does musician. He's well-educated (Morehouse and NYU), tours more in the guise of poetry reader than musician, and has a slew of poetry books to his credit, most recently, ",said the shotgun to the head." When he combines music with his poetry, he's able to sharpen the words or tone them down according to the music's inherent tone. At times on "Saul Williams," even though he's espousing a lefty point of view, he's more like an elder voice of reason than an off-the-wall wordsmith. "That's my natural persona," he explains, "and I've definitely listened to my critics. I've spent time trying to single out what is pretension, what is preachiness. And how can I lessen that and have more fun, but at the same time keep it the real me."

Williams' delicate exposition comes across the strongest on "Act III Scene 2," a track for which he derived inspiration from Mark Antony's famous "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech. And at one point, he even gives a thoroughly supportive acknowledgement to the troops in Iraq. "That was done very carefully," he says. "There were a couple things I wanted to do with that song: For one, I didn't want to have any curse words, and therefore I didn't want any restriction from anyone hearing it. Two I didn't want to be just blatant--so I was very inspired by that Mark Antony speech: he has to be very crafty, so he keeps circling around it. He says Brutus is an honorable man, he says Caesar is ambitious, but even though I know differently, Brutus is an honorable man. And of course in my picture, Brutus is George Bush in this current regime."

He also begins the track by declaring "to all the kids who download this song for free. By any means," a statement that, in musician terms, is more radical than anything else he says on the record. Williams agrees, but interprets. "I think that music and the message is important. And people need to hear it by any means necessary. I mean, I have been broke and yearning for a new album or a new song. I know what it's like to want or need new music and not have the money for it. And if these kids are anything like me, and by that I mean that music is just so important for them--I mean music has been responsible for me being able to shift my mood, or get in the mood--so that being the case, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do."

Beyond looking deeply into the lyrics, there's no denying that the most startling aspect to "Saul Williams" is his ability to intersect so many musical lines. "I see that as my mission, not so much what I aim for, but that's why I feel compelled to do what I do. Why else would a kid who grew up as the purest of hip-hop-heads tour with the Mars Volta and Cursive?"

He pauses for a moment before answering his own question in true "Slam" poetic cadence. "When I ask myself this question, I realize that my aim is to fuse these worlds. In my heightened self, I believe in the oneness of all."

"Saul Williams" is available now.

(2004-09-29)

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