A legacy of Hennessey disrupted. NiggyTardust is upon us. Independent/underground poet laureate/author/actor/musician/energy incapable of being categorized/ascender of all boundaries Saul Williams has released his third album, The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! November 1. NiggyTardust, a play on David Bowie’s 1972 Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, is a raw embodiment of the urgency of all those “muted, neutered, uprooted, polluted” by art verses commerce and struggling intentions. The persona is a commentary on Richard Wright’s classic novel, Native Son, whose main character “Bigger Thomas” is a destructive product of his nation who opens up a dialogue about responsibility and blame.

Having a “shared desire to fuck up the system” the 15 track album, whose cover photography hints at Santana’s 1974 Greatest Hits, was produced by Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and mixed by Alan Moulder. Inventing adjectives, the experience opens with the track “Black History Month,” an introduction to the persona NiggyTardust. The track protests materialism in the industry, laid over a drum machine beat of automatic gun rounds. NiggyTardust continues to rise and fall through a theatrical musical timeline of song and poetry in contradiction of consumerism. Track “Tr(n)igger” samples Public Enemy’s “Welcome to the Terrordome” and there is also a sick cover of U2’s “Sunday Bloody Sunday.” With hyper masculine hip hop/ industrial metal, Williams’ spits his most venomous lyrics to date.

The online option to purchase the album, art, and lyrics at his website continues the movement to “make middlemen much poorer,” initiated by the October 2007 release of English art rock band Radiohead’s album, In Rainbows. You can either give 5 dollars directly to support the artists involved in creating the music or cop the release for free. The decision is yours. The brightest constellation on land will be performing in New York City at The Box on November 12.

www.saulwilliams.com