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I must say that the visual artists of today are few and far between these days. I mean, back in the day you could count handfuls of them ranging from Oscar Brown, Jr. to Andy Warhol to The Talking Heads to Laurie Anderson to Peter Gabriel to Mos Def. At a time when the music industry is pushing mindless entertainment and the next big thing, the artists I just mentioned above are needed in this cultural and economic nightmare.

I've followed brother Saul Williams since the beginning of his illustrious career starting with his slam poetry days from the Nuyorican Poets Cafe back in the mid-1990's. This was era when hip-hop was changing of the guards and the voice of music was becoming more commercial and began to sell-out due to masses getting crossed over and the poets of the time were making themselves known as 'slam-poets.' Saul and other young and budding poets like Jessica Care Moore, Mums, and Beau Sia were making a dent in the underground world of Grand Slam Poetry competitions.

Then the movie "Slam" was released in January of 1998 and opened Pandora's Box on the world of slam poetry and poet, now actor, Saul Williams. Williams collaborated out of the gate on his character Raymond Joshua with director Marc Levin. Joshua, a big time drug dealer who also has aspirations to become a rapper, gets locked up due to a drug deal gone bad. While incarcerated, he turns to writing as his solace to break his destructive cycle of the streets to something positive with his words.

The movie was a critical and immediate success and put Saul's words on the map producing four volumes of his poetry including: "The Seventh Octave," "She," "Said The Shotgun to the Head," "The Dead Emcee Scroll," and his upcoming book "Chorus," due for a 2012 Fall release.

Saul has been able to verbally express himself musically by recording some very innovative and provocative records over the last decade or so. His latest Columbia Records release "Volcanic Sunrise" is his first recording he's released in four years. Produced by legendary record producer Renaud Letang, Saul's music on this disc reflects a more happier and peaceful recording and he hails this disc as his "pop record." He ventures into hip-hop, Industrial, trip-hop, and rock music.
His other records include "Amethyst Rock Star" produced by Rick Ruben and "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust!" produced by Nine Inch Nails's headman Trent Reznor. Many of lyrics of that recording were adapted from Saul's book of poetry "The Dead Emcee Scrolls: The Lost Teachings of Hip-Hop."
In addition to his writing and recording, he's continued to act in many featured roles in the movies and television. He's best remembered for playing the character Sivad, the boyfriend of Lynn Searcy(played by actress Persia White) on the hit television series Girlfriends. Saul also was featured in the movies "Lackawanna Blues," "The N-Word," and "K-Pax."

Currently Saul just kicked off his 2012 Volcanic Sunlight US World Tour to rave reviews. To find out upcoming tour dates as well as his daily comments, please visit him on the web at www.saulwilliams.com. There you can follow his links on Twitter, My Space, and Facebook.