Saul Williams

Saul Williams has a daughter, Saturn, from his relationship with Marcia Jones, an artist. He married actress Persia White in 2008, but they separated a year later.

He is a vocal critic of the war on terrorism, and his work ‘Not in My Name’, is an anti-war anthem. He is a signatory of the ‘Occupy Movement’, protesting social and economic inequality.

Saul Stacey Williams was born on February 29, 1972, in Newburgh, New York. His father was a preacher in a Baptist church and traveled a lot, and his mother was a school teacher.

He completed his high school education from Newburgh Free Academy and graduated with a degree in acting and philosophy from Morehouse College. He then joined the prestigious Tisch School of Arts for a MFA in Drama.

Soon after he started writing poetry, he won the Nuyorican Poets Cafe's ‘Grand Slam Championship’ in 1996.

He played a key role as an actor and writer in the film, ‘Slam’, released in 1998. The film is about a young African-American man whose talent for poetry is disadvantaged by his social background.

In 1998, he began performing with artists such as Christian Alvarez, Nasir bin Olu Dara Jones popularly called Nas, an American rapper, Blackalicious, a hip-hop duo, and Sonia Sanchez of the Back Arts Movement.

In 2001 he released the LP ‘Amethyst Rock Star’, produced by Rick Rubin. Three years later, he released a much acclaimed self-titled album.

He featured on several shows supporting ‘Nine Inch Nails’, an American industrial rock project founded by Trent Rezno. He also accompanied them on their European tour in 2005.

Saul William’s album, ‘The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!’ released in 2007, was based on lyrics adapted from his poems and was promoted by Trent Reznor. Initially available only on the internet, 154,449 people downloaded it.

In 2009, ‘NGH WHT – The Dead Emcee Scrolls with The Arditti Quartet’, was released which is a reading based on his book of poems, conducted by Thomas Kessler and performed by the Arditti String Quartet. It continues to attract paid downloads.