The latest Saul Williams album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust, was released on CD last week. I bought my copy at Easy Street Records in West Seattle, and I could not help but notice that of all the albums featured on the new release rack, it was the only one sealed in one of those anti-theft devices that the cashier has to unlock when you buy it.
If you browse through the rap and hip-hop section of the store, you’ll find that most of the CDs are locked up in those anti-theft devices. Walk over to the rock, folk, pop section and you”l find that nary a one is locked up.
So Saul Williams may sing of a liberated Niggy Tardust…
NiggyTardust: Grippo King, philosopher, and artist. Downright to the marrow, he’s the arrow through the heartless. Sunlight in the afternoon, his shadow travels furthest. Woven through the heart of doom, he’s bursting through the surface. Hardly nervous, suffice to say, he understands his purpose: Threshold King of everything, a comical absurdist. Sometimes when he talks he sings, yet keeps his high notes wordless. Sing along when Niggy sings. Without you he’d be worthless, homeless, Earth-less. Venus Hottentot, up in the circus. Freak Show! Here him speak so properly, ‘cause every word is measured against meaning. Probably scheming to unlearn us. Don’t you call him by his name! White people call him ‘Curtis’.
When I say Niggy, you say nuthin. Niggy. Niggy.
When I say Niggy, you say nuthin. Niggy. “Nuthin”. Shut up.
… but Niggy is locked down in the record store.
You need to buy the album to free Niggy from his crystal cage.
Visit Saul Williams’ website to find out more.
And you can listen to him talk about his art and the making of the album in this YouTube video.
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