Saul Williams / Afropunk
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It is my greatest honor to present to you The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!, my new album produced by Trent Reznor and mixed by Alan Moulder. The wall of sound that we've created is tagged with such graffiti that a passerby would seek out doors and ways to ENTER. Once inside a world defined by dreams come true they'd find aligned with the simplest act of sharing what we treasure. Most people aren't aware of the world of art and commerce where exploitation strips each artist down to nigger. Each label, like apartheid, multiplies us by our divide and whips us 'til we conform to lesser figures. What falls between the cracks is a pile of records stacked to the heights of talents hidden from the sun. Yet the energy they put into popularizing smut makes a star of a shiny polished gun. The ballot or the bullet for Mohawk or the mullet is a choice between new times and dying days. And the only way to choose is to jump ship from old truths and trust dolphins as we swim through changing ways. The ways of middlemen proves to be just a passing trend. We need no priests to talk to God. No phone to call her. And when you click the link below, i think it fair that you should know that your purchase will make middlemen much poorer...NiggyTardust!
In an age where boundless leaps are being made in communication, Saul Williams is evolutionary proof that age-old concepts can be fused with new age precepts and expressed with mind opening precision.
Never before has the power of word and our ability to dictate our reality been expressed so clearly and creatively, at once. Williams’ poetry represents an evolution of thought, artistry and spiritual consciousness delivered with the lyrical fervor of hip-hop and the grace and linguistic mastery of Shakespeare. Williams channels the voice of the New Age, yet, allows a wide ranging stream of consciousness to distort the melody like some sort of lyrical Hendrix.
Williams’ debut performance and featured poetry in the film Slam, which he co-wrote and starred in, brought audiences to their feet across the world. Winning the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 1998, the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, along with the Audience Award for Best Picture and the World Distributors Award for Best Picture, Slam goes down in history for exposing the universal truths that one must grasp in order to escape imprisoned mind-states. Along with his co-star, Sonia Sohn, Williams was personally awarded the Perry Ellis Breakthrough Award by New York's Independent Film Project (IFP) and was also nominated for a Spirit Award for best performance. Marc Levin's idea to direct this poetic masterpiece came about after seeing Williams recite his poetry in the Grand Slam Championship at the Nuyorican Poet's Cafe, where he became the Grand Slam Champion for 1996.
Williams’ love of language which is rooted in his love of hip-hop has come full circle as he now takes his lyricism back to its musical roots. Songwriting has become Williams’ latest endeavor. He envisions a hip-hop that is as musically evolved as his lyricism. Collaborating with six band members, he is composing a sonic soundscape for his already rhythmic and expansive poetry. His music has been featured on a number of CD's, including: Lyricist Lounge, the Slam soundtrack, Black Whole Styles, Eargasms and Krust's Coded Language. His album, Amethyst Rock Star, was co-produced by Williams and Rick Rubin.
Williams’ work has been featured in The New York Times, Esquire, Time Magazine, Elle, Details, Detour, Premiere, Entertainment Weekly, Vibe, Essence, Source, Paper,Rolling Stone, and countless other periodicals. His first book, The Seventh Octave, was published by Moore Black Press. His last book of poetry, She, was published by MTV/ Pocketbooks and is now in its third printing. His current book , said the shotgun to the head , published by MTV/Pocketbooks will be released in September 2003. Williams is also featured in a number of poetry anthologies: Listen Up, Catch The Fire, Slam and In Defense of Mumia.
Williams has performed all around the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, England, Scotland, Sweden, Belgium, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Brazil and Japan. He has been featured at the Whitney Museum, the New Museum, Boston's Museum of Fine Arts, Chicago's Museum of Contemporary Art and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Stockholm, Sweden. Saul performed on HBO’s Def Poetry Jam III in the spring of 2003 and is a recurring character on UPN’s hit show, ‘Girlfriends.’ His poetry has been added into the curriculum at a number of universities and high schools across the country where he has been asked to recite his work, lecture, and/or teach workshops, including: New York University, American University, Morehouse College, Oberlin, The New School, George Washington University, Cornell University and Harvard.
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CX KiDTRONiK & Tchaka Diallo
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coming soon...
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Earl Greyhound
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Earl Greyhound formed in 2002 with the collaboration of songwriters Matt Whyte and Kamara Thomas. Living and working in New York City, the pair began performing regularly as a duo. All along, they were crafting the sound and songs that would form the foundation for a colossal rock band influenced by the strident English three- and four-pieces of the 70’s, the dark pop and heavy grooves of the 90’s, and the transcendental, noisy acid sounds of modern rock.
The band’s first full-length album, Soft Targets, was recorded in Los Angeles and Brooklyn in 2005. However, they were loathe to release the album without a permanent drummer—tellingly, a constant snag since EG’s inception. Taking a leap of faith, Matt and Kamara vowed to play a gig every week until their dream drummer found them. One fateful evening, a gig at Brooklyn’s Southpaw brought them a friend in guitar player Kirk Douglass (of The Roots). Douglass became a fan and brought his friend and Gold Crowns bandmate Ricc Sheridan to gigs for the next few weeks. Ricc says, “I awoke from a dream one night, and knew that this was my band.” A rockneck-inducing jam confirmed that the band had found its holiest trinity. They hit the ground running with Big Ricc Sheridan on drums, and the world has been rocking their faces ever since!
Released in October 2006, Soft Targets earned loads of fans and critical acclaim from publications including The New Yorker, SPIN, Rolling Stone, Brooklyn Vegan and Pitchfork. Even more so, the band’s live show quickly drew heaps of attention and gained a steady reputation among critics and fans alike as a veritable rock-n-roll wrecking ball. Earl Greyhound toured relentlessly for the next two years all over the US, Canada and Japan, and autumn 2007 was spent playing theatres as openers for the band’s good friend Shooter Jennings as well as Soundgarden and Audioslave’s Chris Cornell.
This summer Earl Greyhound will release their extraordinary sophomore album (whose name is top secret!), what promises to be a blistering inferno of their ingenious rock sound.
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American Fangs
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American Fangs is an American rock band that was formed by singer Gabriel Cavazos, guitarist Shelby Hohl & drummer Micah Miller in Houston, Texas in the summer of 2007. In late fall of that same year Kyle Shimek was recruited as a bassist. American Fangs then went on to play what would be arguably their last show on January 1, 2008 followed by a hiatus that would last almost a year. A few phone calls later, the Fangs came back together in the fall of 2008, this time recruiting a second guitarist Kenyon Puntenney solidifying the group to begin work on their debut EP with producer Jerry Nettles. American Fangs self-titled debut EP was then released on Janurary 30, 2009 at Houston's local venue Rudyard's hosting an astonishing turnout. The Band is now focused on touring & writing new material for their debut full length.
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