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The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust | 
 enlarge | Artist: Saul Williams
Label: Fader Label
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy Used: $6.98
You Save: $7.00 (50%)
New (46) Used (11) from $6.98
Rating:  15 reviews
Sales Rank: 16815
Format: Explicit Lyrics
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.5 x 4.8 x 0.4
MPN: 906
UPC: 829299090628
EAN: 0829299090628
ASIN: B00197U0VM
Release Date: July 8, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Tracks:
| | Black History Month | | | Convict Colony | | | Tr(n)igger | | | Sunday Bloody Sunday | | | Break | | | Niggy Tardust | | | DNA | | | WTF! | | | Scared Monkey | | | Raw | | | Skin of a Drum | | | No One Ever Does | | | Banged and Blown Through | | | Raised to be Lowered | | | The RitualBonus Tracks: | | | Pedagogue of Young Gods | | | Can't Hide Love (Earth Wind and Fire cover) | | | Gunshots by Computer | | | Survivalism (Open Heart Clinic Remix) | | | List of Demands |
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Album Description
Saul Williams with his album, Inevitable Rise & Liberation of Niggy Tardust! The CD contains five exclusive bonus tracks including 'List Of Demands', featured in the massive Nike 'My Better' TV campaign. Also features a cover of U2's 'Sunday Bloody Sunday.' Album produced by Trent Reznor/NIN. First establishing himself as an influential poet, and then as an award-winning screenwriter/actor, Saul Williams then went on to establish himself as an MC. His approach to MCing, though, wasn't exactly in line with the traditional school of Hip-Hop. His rhymes weren't really rhymes but rather his poetry delivered in a frenzied spoken word manner that was more rhythmic than alliterate.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 The Return of the Grippo King July 9, 2008
Marcos F. Hernandez (Chicago, Illinois)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
With the invention of the Niggy Tardust persona Saul Williams has escalated his performance far beyond the traditional role of the MC. He's birthed Niggy as some kind of spectral shaman over a ritual of reflection on the past, present, and future of Hip-Hop, but more than that, he makes the ritual fun. Saul's overwhelming live charisma transfers over to disc with little impact lost.
This collaboration with Trent Reznor and CX KiDTRONiK among others pushes genre boundaries while hearkening back to the Bomb Squad production of early Public Enemy proving that, in the right hands, Hip-Hop can still be a tool of liberation.
NIGGY IS DOPE July 10, 2008
TECHWON (SYRACUSE, NY)
YOU KNOW I REMEMBER WHEN I 1ST GOT THIS MONTHS BACK AS A FREE DL VIA HIS WEBSITE. AND I WAS INSTANTLY IN LOVE WITH THE DIFFERENT SOUNDS AND WHAT HE WAS SAYING AS WELL AS PRODUCTION ARE SEEMINGLY IN LINE WITH ONE ANOTHER. EVEN THOUGH ALLOT OF THE MATERIAL COMES FROM HIS "DEAD HIP HOP SCROLLS" BOOK IT'S STILL AMAZING FOR THIS TO SOUND SO ILL. HIS STUFF REMINDS OF WHEN RZA STARTED HIS ALT PERSONA AS BOBBY DIGITAL AND NIGGY IS IN LINE WITH BEING ON THE OUTSIDE LOOKING IN.
Saul Williams for Vice President July 23, 2008
D. Gladden (Muskegon, MI)
Saul Williams is making a righteous statement with this album, and it seems that many people have missed the point. The rap industry has dumbed down its most prominent figures into n-words, the very thing many of its artists have been fighting against in their poetry. Subtly stated in the chorus of the satirical opening track, "The banana peels are carefully placed", Saul is pointing out that the state of mainstream rap is just waiting for the artist to slip and fall back into the unevolved, simian craving for "money cash hoes". I have always believed there is a difference between rap and hip-hop. Hip-hop to me has a more positive connotation, with progressive lyricists such as Mos Def, Talib Kweli, and Common cutting paths underground to shed a positive, open-minded message. Saul is among these leaders in the hip-hop genre.
Let's not forget that Saul was the first semi-well known artist to release his album online exclusively. Yes, months before radiohead, and about a year before his co-conspirator Trent Reznor, this was the initial slap in the face to the music industry.
The dark pulse of Trent Reznor driven beats is the perfect backdrop for the dark message Saul is trying to convey. Unless he completely sells out, he will never "team with a big name producer"; he represents the anti-mainstream. Key tracks such as "Black History Month", "Tr(n)igger", "Niggy Tardust", "Raised to Be Lowered", and "The Ritual" demonstrate the theme of his concept album perfectly. Quoted from the song "Niggy Tardust" - "When I say Niggy, you say nothing. Niggy - NOTHING! Shut up." There's another person who missed the point.
As a twenty-something white male, I feel that Saul's political poetry stands alongside Barack Obama in pushing racism back into the 20th century. Ignore the naysayers, and do not ignore this album.
Amazing sound.....amazing album July 30, 2008
Trentsinmypants AKA "TIMP" (San Diego, CA)
First off, to all the nay sayers about this having an "Industrial" sound, get off your high horse. Saul picked up on this sound on his own, therefore its his style that HE chooses. This album is amazing from start to finish. When it first hit the internet last year, i couldnt stop playing it. I still to this day hold his album in high reguard. To yourself a favor and listen to it for yourself.....pay no attention to this review or any of the others on here. Once you've done that, come back and write your own review
Niggy... Uh, I mean, Curtis rocks! August 4, 2008
K. Sullivan (Virginia - United States)
I have to thank Nike. Not for a pair of shoes but because I may never have heard of Saul Williams without Nike's use of "List of Demands" in their "My Better" advertising campaign. That song, included here and on his self-titled album, instantly captivated me and revealed I was missing something special.
Saul Williams is special. He has a remarkable talent for wordplay that can suck you in and not let go. Thankfully, he is intelligent and socially aware enough to use that talent to deliver a message. Add to that a knack for laying down infectious rhythms (thanks also go to Trent Reznor and CX KiDTRONiK for this latest release), and you have two remarkable records (I have not yet heard and therefore cannot comment on Amethyst Rock Star).
Saul's latest release is a great mix of industrial rock and hip-hop. He sings, he raps, he speaks. Ambitiously, he creates a new persona in Niggy Tardust. The obvious reference is to David Bowie's Ziggy Stardust. But because that was before my time, I relate it to Bono of U2 and the different characters he portrayed on tour. I think the idea is genius and the potential is limitless.
Some random thoughts about the music... Adding another reason to think of U2's Bono is the cover of "Sunday Bloody Sunday". Saul stays more true to the original than I imagined he would, but he still makes it his own. It is a remarkable cover. Sampling Public Enemy in "Tr(n)igger" was done to great effect - it was great hearing Flav (before he became a caricature of himself) and Chuck D. I was reminded of Jonathan Davis of Korn on "Break" ("let it out, blow it out, spit it out, get it out"). DNA features Saul's voice synthesized to wicked effect. Top to bottom, the album has infectious rhythms and powerful lyrics.
I wrestled somewhat with a four or five-star rating. Certainly a couple songs are not on par with the rest in my opinion. But at more than 70 minutes in length featuring 20 songs, he has given us a lot of material to enjoy. Finally, while listening to the album and considering it, I heard the following line, "F*** the bull**** whether from the Hill or from the pulpit". As long as Saul Williams is intent on verbally assaulting us out of our slumber, I'll strike what I might characterize as lesser songs up to taste. Go on ahead, Saul!
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