A Conversation with Saul.
By Heather Hoskeer


In 1996 Saul Williams became the Grand Slam Champion at the Nuyorican Poets Café in New York City. In 1998 he embodied the role of Joshua Raymond, an imprisoned man who finds freedom through poetry in the film Slam. Slam won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance and the Camera D’Or at Cannes that same year and the film introduced the world to Saul Williams’ talents. Williams has published several books of poetry including The Seventh Octave: The Early Writings of Saul Williams, S/He and ,said the shotgun to the head. From his debut album, Amethyst Rock Star to his most recent self titled release, Williams seamlessly fuses his spoken word chops with a courageous musicality with results that are gratifying and genre defying.

Williams has been recognized by both the ultra-hip and the ultra-intelligent. He has been embraced by academia, the literary world and the MTV generation. His poems have been adapted into public school curriculum. He has been invited to speak at colleges and universities. He has opened for Nine Inch Nails and collaborated with The Fugees amongst others. He is a poet, a lyricist, a spoken word artist, a musician, an actor. He has left his mark on every medium in which he has worked, raising the bar for those who follow. Saul Williams is brave. He is 33 years old. And at this precise moment, he is in an elevator. One, which I can only imagine, is going up.

"Can you hear me?" he asks.

I can. We have a good connection. So good that I can hear the familiar mechanical dings and whirs of an elevator in motion. There is a slight and thoughtful pause.

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