Saul Williams speaks out with Oprah letter

Hip hop spokesman and poet Saul Williams responded to this from Oprah Winfrey by posting an open letter to both Oprah and her viewers among others here.

The letter provides, among other things, a definition of the real emcee, an explanation for the current state of hip hop, and an examination of the sacred and feminine iconography in modern culture.

No response from Oprah as of this time.

"This Man is Dope." - Saul Williams performs at MO History Museum

Last night (02.23.07), Poet/Activist/Actor/Musician Saul Stacey Williams performed at the Missouri History Museum on his "Love Jones" tour before a sold out house in the museum's Grand Hall as part of Webster University's event/speaker series supporting the "American Visions of Liberty & Freedom" exhibit.
Williams began his set after an hour long open mic showcase featuring local slam poets and local feature emcee MissInterpretation.

With an introduction simply saying, "This man is 'dope.'" Williams recited many of his better known works such as the ground breaking "Telegram to Hip Hop", biopoem "Black Stacey", and the award winning "I am that Nigga" as well as excerpts from his novel/poem Said the Shotgun, and several new pieces including an homage to his late father.

In addition to slamming, Williams also spoke about the nature and usage of words, the myth or race, the psyche of the modern "Emcee", and the relation of the feminine to the divine remarking, "Common sense says a Holy Trinity would be a father, a child, and a mother not a father, a male child, and a ghost. Oh, look, no lightning."

Electrifying the audience with a staccato internal rhyme scheme, dynamic and rhythmic crescendos, spiritual allegory and allusion, inventive incorporation metaphor and simile, and peerless narrative expression, Williams proves that he is among both poetry and hip hop's elite. As the night's emcee noted, Saul Williams is truly "poet laureate" of hip hop.

Saul Williams performs "Ohm" (excerpt)