Saul Williams Delivers Impassioned Performance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert Series
Saul Williams recently stopped by NPR's Tiny Desk concert series and performed his signature brand of thought-provoking poetry, mind-bending raps and heartfelt singing.
First, he delivered an extremely potent cut off his sixth album MartyrLoserKing, which he dropped in January.
"The name of this song is 'Burundi,'" said the 44-year-old while two men strummed acoustic guitars. "The name of this song is 'Sierra.' The name of this song is 'America.' The name of this song is 'England,' 'Brexit.' The name of this song is 'Turkey.'"
"The name of this song is 'Sudan' and 'Eritrea.'The name of this song is 'Egypt.' The name of this song is 'Tunisha.' The name of this song is 'Ukraine.' The name of this song is 'Burundi,'" he added.
In the politically-charged cut, Williams tells the story of a computer hacker who's fighting for his political and social rights in Burundi.
"Question your authority, genocide and poverty / Treaties don't negate the fact that you're dealing stolen property / Hacker, I'm a hacker, I'm a hacker in your hard drive / Hundred thousand dollar Tesla ripping through your hard drive," he raps.
Towards the end of the 20-minute clip, the New York University alum saw a small statue of James Brown, picked it up and caressed it while singing "Down For Some Ignorance," which made his shed tears.
"Makers of disease, down for some ignorance / Chemicals and feces, down for some ignorance / Computers delete us, down for some ignorance / Don't care how they treat us, down for some ignorance," Williams sung.
Watch his passionate performance above.