Saul Williams
The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of Niggy Tardust
4/5

Who It’s For: Genre-jumpers will dig it, but Niggy is the antidote to bling-hop
Sounds Like: A hip hop-industrial Chuck D

Saul Williams is a nu-liberal legend bar none: he loudly opposed the Iraq War and War on Terror, he fought for DRM-free music, acted in fine indie movies and collaborated with the fiercest of musicians. Now he’s made an album with Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and released it for free download. How exactly do you spend your days?

Reznor picked up on Williams to play support on the With Teeth European tour summer 2005, and with guest appearances on NIN’s Year Zero album in 2006, it was almost inevitable that a full-length collaboration would surface. But Niggy Tardust isn’t some hollow cash-in, far from it. This is the discordance of mid-80s hip hop writ anew. It’s sleazy, its political, and it has no inclination to cosy up to anyone. These are soundbites and tirades that grab your throat to get your attention.

The album slides consistently from Public Enemy noise-hop on “Black History Month” to more straightforward The Fragile-era NIN attack on closer “The Ritual,” but this works fine as it allows Williams differing canvases to showcase what a potent voice he wields.

Is Niggy Tardust an element of Reznor’s Bigger Picture project he initiated late-2006? It’s not miles away from his nor Williams’ existing visions, and bodes well. This is more Antichrist Superstar than Two, suggesting that Williams may yet get the sort of headlines he has been courting.

Track Listing:

1. Black History Month
2 Convict Colony
3. Tr(n)igger
4. Sunday Bloody Sunday
5. Break
6. Niggy Tardust
7. DNA
8. WTF!
9. Scared Money
10. Raw
11. Skin Of A Drum
12. No One Ever Does
13. Banged And Blown Through
14. Raised To Be Lowered
15. The Ritual

- Kid Lupin