Last night I asked for another song suggestion to share my thoughts on, and this is what I got. I did this for the first time a few days ago, and it went pretty well, so I’m gonna make this a thing I do more often.
Today’s selection was submitted by Tatiana Danielle a.k.a. @91rare on social media.
Y’all might not know this because I don’t think I’ve written about him since 2019, but Saul Williams is actually one of my favorite artists of all time. Last year he collaborated with Carlos Niño & Friends on a release called Saul Williams Meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople. I think I listened to maybe a third of the opening track before turning it off. It’s not really a Rap album, and it was very clear to me quite quickly that it was not the type of release that I would personally get much enjoyment from. It’s definitely not wack, but I’m just not really into that type of thing at all to begin with.
It kinda reminds me of a debate I had with this dude on Discord many years ago. He took issue with the phenomenon of people saying “Album B is better than album A, but I like album A more.” His argument was basically, “if you like it more you think it’s better.” I kinda get where he’s coming from, but I personally think that’s a very simplistic and narrow-minded way to view it. This is a perfect example. I don’t really listen to Spoken Word or much Jazz music. Does that mean I think Kill Karl’s SUCK ON MY ALBUM is better than this because I listen to it more and find it hilarious? Not really. Here’s another example; I strongly dislike Country music. I would never say something like “Country music is bad” though. Well, actually I probably have said something like that. I wasn’t really serious though. Is this making sense? Do y’all feel what I’m tryna say here? I think To Pimp a Butterfly is the best album I’ve ever heard in my life, but it’s not my personal favorite album ever. There are more factors that go into someone’s preferences than “this album is more well crafted than that album.” My friends were taken aback last night when I said I like Sleep Sinatra’s music more than that of Michael Jackson. I don’t think anyone should be shocked by me saying that. I never said Sleep Sinatra is more talented or iconic or a better performer than Michael Jackson. I thought it was kinda obvious already that I prefer Sleep at this point though. When have I ever presented myself as a massive Michael Jackson fan? Stevie Wonder is way better anyway. I just find it kinda weird when people act like thinking Michael Jackson is the best artist to ever breathe is or should be the default opinion of every human, but I digress. I say all this to say that I didn’t personally enjoy this at all, but I don’t think it’s bad. I actually couldn’t tell you if this is good or bad by typical Spoken Word or Jazz standards. I don’t really listen to Jazz outside of some exceptions here and there. I have a couple Sun Ra tracks in my library. There’s a Kamasi Washington album in there. I’ve also got some of the other stuff Madlib has done with different groups and under different names. I like El-P’s High Water album. Butcher Brown & HUMAN ERROR CLUB are also in there. I’m a normie casual dabbler though. My dad tried to get me into it when I was a very small child by taking me to a bunch of live performances. I have a pretty fuzzy memory of seeing a chubby white dude scatting on stage and not knowing what the fuck was happening. I couldn’t have been older than five years old. Despite those experiences, I wouldn’t say I’m a fan of the genre. This is like listening to a foreign language for me. I didn’t enjoy it much, but it was at least interesting to experience one time. I won’t be playing it again, but I just like hearing new shit I haven’t heard before.
Ok, let me actually talk about the song itself. There are definitely things here that I enjoy. I think the way it starts sounds very cool. The first minute and a half is pretty nice, and then Saul Williams begins speaking. To be honest… This shit was kinda frustrating to listen to a little bit, I’m not gon’ cap to y’all. This shit is kind of a slog for me. It hurts me to say this because I can’t emphasize enough how much I adore Saul Williams as an artist. The Spoken Word shit is just not my style at all though. Basically, my issue with it is… BRUH, SPIT IT OUT. He’s talking so slowly that it’s irritating. I know that may be hypocritical because I am a notoriously slow speaker, but goddamn bruh. Maybe I’d find it less tedious if I was really into what was being said. I do like the content to an extent, but I have to really, like… I don’t know how to explain this. Basically, I have to read really deep into what’s being said to conjure up any meaningful personal interpretation. I was able to kind of extract a commentary on change, adaptation, vicissitudes, etc.
Winds of transformation
Not always asked for
And we are not always prepared
Yet transformation it is
The moment calls on us to align
Ourselves, our visions, our dreams
And to utilize that energy
To transform this moment
Into something well beyond our fears
I just don’t feel like what he’s saying is particularly crucial or pertinent. It takes him over a minute to say all the shit I just transcribed right there by the way. It doesn’t feel like there’s much of a payoff. At a certain point I found the song on YouTube just so I could listen on 2x speed.
Personally, my favorite part of this song was the uncredited performance from Maia the Artiste. Well, maybe she’s included in “& Friends.” I don’t know. Her performance is far more compelling than that of Saul Williams to me though. Not necessarily from a lyrical standpoint, but she honestly had a genuinely captivating vocal delivery. That’s easily the best moment on the track to be honest. I actually wanna hear more stuff from her. I wanna hear her on an Elucid track. The instrumentation during her part gets much more interesting too in my opinion. I guess if you wanna somehow apply a traditional structure to this track, her “A CULTURE IS BURNING” chant could be looked at as the hook. The song actually does get much more interesting from this point forward. There are moments that I find enjoyable for sure. There is just no way I would ever sit through fifteen minutes of this again. That’d feel like a complete waste of time, which may sound harsh, but I’m just being honest. Again, I don’t think this is bad. I just am not into it. I’m probably gonna forget this exists in a couple days. This was fun to write about though, so I regret nothing. Thanks again to 91rare for the submission. I’ll be doing this again soon. ✌🏽
Focus Hip Hop 
What do you think?