Saul Williams Album

Nigga, you betta drink half a gallon
of shaolin before you pluck the strings
of my violin, my life is orchestrated,
like london symphony, concentrated. Niggas waited
and waited. i'm birthday wishes, belated.
blow out the candles, i wait in the
darkness, like a vandal. the silhouette
of set in this mirror on the mantle.
fire place is in the heart. water
places the art 'round the island of
desiring wheremost primitives stalk
sacrificing their daughters, but these
primordial waters carry a feminine
agenda that no man ever taught us.
true they captured and caught us,
transported, sold us, and bought us. they
constituted and lawed us, distorted truths
that they taught us. we rebelled, then
fought us. we conformed, then
they formed us. Now these niggas rhyming
'bout material possessions. My adidas are
three years old, like my daughter, niggas
rhyme 'bout alize and need to rhyme about
water. but out of chaos comes order
out of chaos comes order out of chaos comes
order....Fake niggas run for the border
LA LA LA LA LA LALA LA LALA LA LA
LA LA LA LA

in a past life i was a woodcarver's knife
the sharpened blade of a woodcutter
the eldest son of the chief's brother:
a maker of drums. we scraped the
inside of goat hides to seek the hollows
where sound resides, offering the parts
we did not use to invoke the muse.
music of the ghettos, the cosmos,
the negroes, the necros: overcomers
of death, disciples of breath. dissection
of drumbeats like Osiris by Seth.
breakbeats into fourteen pieces.
dissembled chaos, organized noise.
a patchwork of heartbeats to resurrect
true b-boys. be men. let's mend
the broken heart of Isis. age of
aquarius. mother nature is furious
while you rhyme about being hardcore be
heartcore. what is it that we do art for?
metaphor. metasin. it's an age of
healing. why not rhyme about what you're
feeling? or not be felt. deal w/ the cards
you're dealt. calling tarot readers and
sparrow feeders to cancel the
apocalypse....metaphorically speaking
(meta: greek for beyond)

Cancel the apocalypse
cartons of the milky way with pictures of a missing planet
last seen in pursuit of an American dream
this fool actually thinks he can drive his hummer on the moon
blasting DMX off the soundtrack of a South Park cartoon
niggas used to buy their families out of slavery
now we buy chains and links, smokes and drinks
they're paying me to record this, even more if you hear it
somebody tell me what you think I should do with the money
yes, friend tell me what you think I should do with the money
exactly how much is it gonna cost to free Mumia?
what's he gonna do with his freedom? talk on the radio?
radio programming is just that - a brainwashin' gleaned of purpose
to be honest, some freedom of speech makes me nervous
and you looking for another martyr in the form of a man
hair like a mane with an outstretched hand
in a roar of hearts, thoughts, reactionary defensiveness and counter
intelligence
what exactly is innocence?
fuck it, I do believe in the existence of police brutality
who do I make checks payable to?
a young child stares at a glowing screen transfixed by tales of violence
his teenage father tells him that that's life, not that Barney shit
a purple dinosaur that speaks of love, a black man that speaks of blood
which one is keeping it real, son?
who manufactured your steel, son?
hardcore, ancient elements at the earth's core
fuck it, I'mma keep speaking 'til my throats sore
an emcee told a crowd of hundreds to put their hands in the air
an armed robber stepped to a bank and told everyone to put their hands in
the air
a Christian minister gives his benediction while the congregation hold
their hands in the air
love the image of the happy Buddha with his hands in the air
hands up and feel confused, define tomorrow
your belief system ain't louder than my car system
nigga walked down my block with his rotwiler, a subwoofer on a leash
each one teach one
the DJ spins a new philosophy into a barren mind
I can't front on it
my head nods as if to clear the last image from an etch-a-sketch
something like Rakim said- I could quote any emcee, but why should I?
how would it benefit me? karmic repercussions
are your tales of reality worth their sonic laced discussions?
suddenly, the ground shivers and quakes
a newborn startles and wakes
her mother rushes to her bed side to hold her to her breast
milk of sustenance heals and nourishes
from the depths of creation life still flourishes
yet we focus on death and destruction, violence, corruption
my people, let pharaoh go
what have you bought into? how much will it cost to buy you out?
what have you bought into? how much will it cost to buy you out?
what have you bought into? how much will it cost to buy you out?

(spoken)
how much it gonna cost to buy you out of my mind?
penny for a thought, y'all niggas is half steppin' wastin' my time
please, nigga what? you talkin to me?
please baby, baby, baby can I borrow - can i borrow a nickle, a dime, and
that quarter
penny for a thought, penny for a thought
how much will it cost to buy you out of buyin' into a reality that
originally bought you?
dime a dozen, y'all niggas a dime a dozen
penny for a thought, nigga, c'mon, penny for a thought
think fast, think fast, c'mon, time is money

time is money, money is time
so i keep 7 o'clock in the bank and gain interest in the hour of God
I'm saving to buy my freedom, God, grant me wings, I'm too fly not to fly
I soared further past humans without wings so I soar
and fine tickling the feathers of my wings
flying hysterically, over land numerically
I am seven mountains higher than the valley of death

Seven mountains higher than the valley of death
Seven dimensions deeper than dimensions of breath
(x12, gradually mixed out)

we're performing an exorcism on all this keep it real-ism
violence, sensationalism
in the name of the hip hop that nurtured me, cultured me
we are ordering all evil entities to exit this body, leave this body
in the name of microphone fiends and a young boy's b-boy dreams
we draw you to leave this body, leave this body
all evil entities, all wannabe emcees
decoys, decoys, send in the true b-boys
the true b-boys be men, motherfuckers
be men in the name of Scott La Rock
in the name of T-La Rock
motherfuckers don't remember how to do the reeboks
walk, hop, I told you to leave this body
leave this body, leave this body
I told you to leave this body
leave this body, leave this body
motherfuckers must think I'm crazy
shit, I think y'all motherfuckers is crazy
I want my fuckin' MTV
penny for a thought, nigga, penny for a thought
what the fuck have you bought into

Beginning with the aftermath sayers of sooth who stand aloof to hide their inner laugh
Depending on the circumstance I show my tools to where niggers know where I'm just a fishing pants
Beginning with the aftermath sayers of sooth who stand aloof to hide their inner laugh
Depending on the circumstance I show my tools to where niggers know where I'm just a fishing pants

I slept once, The dream has yet to end
it was a purple evening such as this, the curtains had been pulled by a hand unattached
I lay propped on a pillow of eagle feathers on a couch framed with the skeletons of my uncles and great uncles
I did not intend to close my eyes but then I did
The night is falling on the moist palms of children too weak to bear it's weight
The stars are visibly breathing in fact they almost look as if they are chewing gum
The moon is crescented on both sides while its center remains unseen
I can faintly hear my mother calling me, or is that my sister singing songs of the railroad?
Robeson is reflected in a floating mirror
Then I realize that the mirror is not floating but being pulled by a white horse and in great golden chariot, the horse has human feet
I look down at my feet and they are hooves. When I look up it is no longer night, the sun covers the entire sky as if it were stretched to reach all corners, flames are visible but not threatening.
A girl brushes my knee with her tail, she is wearing pink overalls and rollerblades, she signals for me to follow her, as soon as I take a step towards her I'm flying.

There are rocky mountains below me, I decide to land in a small settlement between mountains
A man walks up to me, he is my father but he introduces himself to me as John Galt. I ask him if he is the Reverend John Galt. we begin to say the Lord's prayer together, the whole world seems to join in
The mountains have mouths;
I am standing at an altar, it takes a second before I realize I'm getting married
The woman beside me, my bride, is sitting in lotus position on an Indian silk pillow
She is holding a white umbrella over her head, I cannot see her, I keep whispering to her, “It's okay love, it's okay love” and she keeps shushing me, and shushing me,
I'm wearing a backpack I decide to take it off and open it up, It's filled with colouring books and I keep thinking
"I have to be done in time to pick Saturn up from school, I have to be done in time to pick Saturn up from school, I have to be done in time
to pick Saturn up from school"

My darling Saturn I seem to break your heart daily, how could I ever neglect to hug you
You are a planet hugged by a rainbow, forgive me
I sometime become so consumed in the travails of my own heart that I neglect yours
And there is no greater crime I will never commit it again, for there is no other adultery
You are my child, God's gift to the world God's will be done, I love you.

Esthero :
Oh ahhhh oooh

Saul williams :
Children of the night
Only some will star the sky
Only believers in death will die
And fathers must feather the wings of women
For the unfeathered masses dangle ridiculous
Carrying crosses to phalayx filled tombs
The future sells silence through blood rivered wombs
That ripple with riddles of cows and spoons and births
Moons and earths
Sun-centered at noon

Esthero :
Now....

Saul williams :
And here i stand
Court jestering infinity
Fetal fisted for revolution
But open hands birth humility
Now what you the density of an egoless planet?
Must my spine be aligned to sprout wings?
I'm slouched into sling steps and kangoled with gang reps
But my orbit rainbows saturn rings
Mystical eliptical
Presto polaris
Karmic flamed future when saturns and aries
And now i'm a fish called father
With gills type dizzy
Blowing liquid lullabies through the spine of time
I'm certain of saturns rivers and all else is fact
So baptise me in the stars
And wrap me in nighttime
Moon blue
Pupil my sight with orange balls of light
And echo my plight
Through the corridors of metaphor
What else are we living for if not to create
Fiction and rhyme?
My purpose is to make my soul
Rhyme with my
mind over matter
Minds create matter
minds create fiction
As a matter of fact
As if matter were fact
Matter is fact
So spirit must be fiction
Science fiction
Art fiction

Meta fiction

Esthero :
Now

Saul williams :
The tao of now
Is here amongst the living in the voice of children is the tao of now

Esthero :
You are the divine reflection of this earth
She does not belong to you
No there is no need for your correction
All rivers run in the same direction

Saul williams :
If you're serving the father theres no son without mother
Parent bodies discover
water bodies and drown
Wade me in the water
'Til atlantis is found
On the sea floors of self
I'm starfish and unbound
Heard that name of that mound is stone mountain
Underwater volcanoes erupt
water fountains of youth
Let's us carnal the equation, cancel out wind and truth
Swirl me beyond sometimes
Drench me water proof
Let eve drop forever
rain sunsets on my roof
As i sit on the front porch of my sanity
Deciphering hambones to van gogh this vanity
Oiled egos
Canvased and framed
To be reborn unborn unburied unnamed
A reflection through a blood stained glass window
Of souls gone yellow around the edges

Esthero :
There is a monster living
It's the voice of children
It is the tao of now

Saul williams :
Carbonated dreams and blurred daily lives
But let family bring focus
Out of swamps blossom lotus
The muddy water blue daughters of infinity
Gravity we water bodied Bodhisattva's our serenity
As we rise with the tides toward divinity

Esthero :
Now...
There is a monster living its in the voice of children
It is the tao of now

Saul williams :
Yes we rise with the tides towards divinity
The muddy water blue daughters of infinity
Gravity we water bodied Bodhisattva's our serenity
As we rise with the tides toward divinity....
Yes we rise with the tides towards diviinty
Yes we rise with the tides towards divinity
Now we rise with the tides towards divinity
And we rise with the tides towards divinity
'Cause we rise with the tides towards divinity

Esthero :
Now...

Saul williams :
The tao of now
Is here amongst the living in the voice of children is the tao of now

Esthero :
There is a monster living it's in the voice of children
It is the tao of now

I don't know whether to laugh or cry
and I don't know whether to live or die
I kept my love for her locked deep inside
it cuts like a knife
she's out of my life
out of my life, out of my hair
out of my mind, there's no love in there
I move on, move on

dear God, I wasn't breast fed
and most of my conversations with men seem to revolve around music

I'm no musician but the pain has been instrumental
my senses finely tuned instruments of - of - of -
of being lonely, of being lost, of being loved, of being human
man I could use a metaphor but I can't get beyond this shit
I could use someone to talk to
but most of my conversations with men seem to revolve around music

I am a poet who composes what the world proses
and proses what the world composes

I am a poet who composes what the world proses
and proses what the world composes

damned indecision and cursed pride
I kept my love for her locked deep inside
and I don't know what to do
to get it through to you
get out of my life tonight
get out of my life
out of my life, out of my hair
out of my mind, there's no love in there
move on, move on

she had nothing but time on her hands
silver rings, turquoise stones and purple nails
I rub my thumb across her palm
a featherbed where slept a psalm
yea though I walk, I used to fly, and now we dance
I watch my toenails blacken and walk a deadened trance
'til she woke me with the knife edge of her glance
I have the scars to prove the clock strikes with her hands

and I don't know what to do
to get it through to you
and I don't know what to do
to get it through
out of my life, out of my hair
out of my mind, there's no love in there
I move on, move on, I move on

The fiery sun of my passions evaporates the love lakes of my soul
clouds my thoughts and rains you into existence
as I take flight on bolts of lighting
claiming chaos as my concubine and you as my me
I of the storm you of the sea
we of the moon land of the free
what have I done to deserve this?
am I happy?
happiness is a mediocre sin and for a middle-class existence
I see through smiles and smell truth in the distance
beyond one dimensional smiles and laughter
lies our hereafter where tears echo laughter
you'd have to do math to divide
a smile by a tear times fear equals mere truth
I simply delve in the air and if that's the case
all I have to do is breathe and all else will follow
that's why drums are hollow
and I like drums drums are good but
I can't think straight
I lack the attention span to meditate
my attention spans galaxies here and now are immense
seconds are secular, moments are mine,
self is illusion, music's divine

noosed by the strings of Jimi's guitar I swing
purple hazed pendulum hypnotizing the part of I that never dies
look into my eyes are the windows of the soul
it's fried chicken collies and cornbread
it's corn milk flour sour cream eggs and oil
it's the stolen blood of the earth
used to make cars run and kill the fish
who me? I play scales
the scales of dead fish of oil slicked seas
my sister blows wind through the hollows of fallen trees
and we are the echoes of eternity
echoes of eternity
echoes of eternity

maybe you heard of us
we do rebirths, revolts and resurrections
we threw basement parties in pyramids
I left my tag on the wall
the beats would echo off the stone
and solidify into the form of light bulbs
destined to light up the heads of future generations
they're releasing it up in the form of ohm

maybe you heard of us
if not then you must be trying to hear us
and in such cases we can't be heard
we remain in the darkness unseen
in the center of unpeeled bananas we exist uncolored by perception
clothed to the naked eye
five senses cannot sense the fact of our existence
and that's the only fact
in fact there are no facts
fax me a fact
and I'll telegram I'll hologram I'll telephone the son of man
and tell him he is done
leave a message on his answering machine
telling him there are none
god and I are one
times moon times star times sun
the factor is me, you remember me
I slung amethyst rocks on Saturn blocks
‘til I got caught up by earthling cops
they wanted me for their army or whatever
picture me, I swirl like the wind
tempting tomorrow to be today
tiptoeing the fine line between everything and everything else
I am simply Saturn swirling sevenths through sooth
the sole living heir of air
and I (inhale) and (exhale) and all else follows
reverberating the space inside of drum hollows
package and bottles and chips and tomorrow
then sold to the highest nigga
I swing from the tallest tree
lynched by the lowest branches of me
praying that my physical will set me free
cause I'm afraid that all else is vanity
mere language is profanity
I'd rather hum
or have my soul tattooed to my tongue
and let the scriptures be sung in gibberish
as words be simple fish in my soulquarium
and intellect can't swim
so I stopped combing my mind so my thoughts could lock
I'm tired of trying to understand
perceptions are mangled matted and knotted anyway
life is more than what meets the eye and I
so elevate I to the third but even that shit seems absurd
and your thoughts leave you third eye-solated
no man is an island but I often feel alone
so I find peace through OM

Om nia merican born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged;
om nia merican born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged.

Om nia merican born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged;
om nia merican born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged.

Oh say can you-
20,000 Negro leagues beneath the-
sea-foamed clouds laced with ink that stains when
rains makes books of trees at once upon a
dawns early light pawn bishop knight children of
night may queens take kings hereafter thereafter
the trickling sands demand that our decisions
be timely:

I'm the - Omni American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged;

I'm the - Omni American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged.

I'm the- offspring of spring reborn pledged and sworn
the risen ash of a flag burned and torn;

I'm the - blood of the womb the risen tide of the moon
the dark side that the light cannot hide;

I'm the - pages of history read between the lines
the living truth behind your symbols and signs;

I'm the - son of a minister, love of a teacher
My mother taught me well so I rebel;

I'm the - bell re-tolled yet a story untold the
hidden force behind a rock that was rolled;

I'm the - omni American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged;

I'm the - omni American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged.

Oh say can you-
20,000 Negro leagues beneath the-
sea-foamed clouds laced with ink that stains when
rains makes books of trees at once upon a
dawns early light pawn bishop knight children of
night may queens take kings hereafter thereafter
the trickling sands demand that our decisions
be timely:

I'm the - Omni American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged;

I'm the - Omni American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged;

I'm the - Omni American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged;

I'm the - Omni American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged.

Lift every voice and sing
lift every voice and sing
(and you don't stop
it don't stop)

I'm the American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged.

I'm the - I'm the American born of beats and blood
the concert of the sun unplugged.

Acid-wash Guess with the leather patches
Sportin' the white Diadoras with the hoodie that matches
I'm wearing two Swatches and a small Gucci pouch
I could have worn the Lugi but I left it in the house
Now, my niggas Duce and Wayne got gold plates with their names
With the skyline on it with the box link chain
I'm wearing my frames
They match my gear with their tint
And you know Lagerfields is the scent
Now, my nigga Rafael just got his jeep out the shop
Mint green sidekick, custom-made rag top
"Strictly Business" is the album that we play
"You're A Customer"; the pick of the day
Now there's a nigga on the block, never seen him before
Selling incense and oil, my man thinks that he's the law
But why on earth would this be on their agenda?
As he slowly approaches the window..
"Uh, uh, I've seen you before, I've been you and more
I was the one bearing the pitcher of water
I rent the large upper room
Furnished with tidings of your doom
Or pleasure, whichever feathers(?) decree."
Yo Ralph is he talking to me?
"No I'm talking to the sea son's resurrected
I'm the solstice of the day
I bring news from the blues of the Caspian"
My man laughs, he's one them crazy motherfuckers
Turn the music back up - 'cause I'm the E-Double'
"Wait, but but but but I know the volume of the sea
And sound waves as I will
Will you allow me to be at your service?"
My man Ralph is nervous. He believes
That this strange tongue deceives
And maybe he's been informed that
He's pushing gats hidden in the back, beneath the floor mats
Come on Jack, we don't have time
For your bullshit or playin
A'salaam a something' or another
"Wait isn't Juanita your mother?
I told you I know you, now grant me a moment"
At the gates of Atlantis we stand
Ours is the blood that flowed from the palms of his hands
on the plow till earth
till I'm now
Moon cycles revisited, womb fruit of the sun
Full moon of occasions wave the wolves where they run
And they run towards the light casting love on the winds
As is the science of the aroma of sleeping women
Lost in his eyes they soon reflect my friends are grinning
But I'm a pupil of his sight
The wheels are spinning
Yo I'll see ya'll later on tonight
In the beginning her tears were the long awaited rains
Of a parched Somali village
Red dusted children danced shadows
In the newfound mound of mascara that eclipsed her face
Reflected in the smogged glass of carlos east street bodega
Learning to love, she had forgotten to cry
Seldom hearing the distant thunder in her lovers ambivalent sighs
He was not honest
She was not sure
A great grandmother
Had sacrificed the family's clarity for God in the late 1800's
Nonetheless she had allowed him to mispronounce her name
Which had eventually led to her misinterpreting her own dreams
And later doubting them
But
The night was young
She the firstborn daughter of water faced darkness and smiled
Took mystery as her lover
And raised light as her child
Man that shit was wild you should have seen how they ran
She woke up in an alley with a gun in her hand
Tupac in lotus form
Innocents' blood on his hands
She woke up on a vessel
The land behind her
The sun within her
Water beneath her
Mushed corn for dinner
Or was it breakfast
Her stomach turned as if a compass
She prayed towards east and lay there breathless
They threw her overboard for dead
She swam silently and fled
Into the blue sea
La soh fa mi, re do, si
The seventh octave
I don't mean to confuse you
Many of us have been taught to sing
And so we practice scales
Many of us were born singing
And thus were born with scales
Mermaids, cooks, and fieldhands
Sang a nightsong by the forest
And the ocean was the chorus
In Atlantis where they sang
Those thrown overboard had overheard
The mystery of the undertow
And understood that down below
There would be no more chains
They surrendered breath and name
And survived countless as rain
I'm the weather man
The clouds say storm is coming
A white buffalo was born
Already running
And if you listen very close
You'll hear a humming
Beneath the surface of our purpose lies
Rumors of ancient man
Dressed in cloud face minstrels in the sky
The moon's my mammy
The storm holds my eye
Dressed in westerlies
Robed by Robeson
Ol' man river knows my name
And the reason you were born
Is the reason
That I came
Then she looks me in the face
And her eyes get weak
Pulse rate descends, hearts rate increase
Emcees look me in the face and their eyes get weak
Pulse rates descends hearts rate increase
It's like "beam me up, Scottie", I control your body
I'm as deadly as AIDS when it's time to rock a party
We all rocked fades, fresh faded in ladidadi
And when we rock the mic when we rock the mic
And when we rock the mic when we rock the mic
But less the feminine side
Ignore the feminine side

I presented my feminine side with flowers
She cut the stems and placed them gently down my throat
And these two lips might soon eclipse your brightest hopes

Whereas, breakbeats have been the missing link connecting the diaspora community to its drum-woven past.
Whereas the quantised drum has allowed the whirling mathematicians to calculate the everchanging distance between rock and stardom.
Whereas the velocity of spinning vinyl, cross-faded, spun backwards, and re-released at the same given moment of recorded history,
yet at a different moment in time's continuum, has allowed history to catch up with the present.

We do hereby declare reality unkept by the changing standards of dialogue.
Statements such as "keep it real", especially when punctuating or anticipating modes of ultra-violence inflicted psychologically or physically,
or depicting an unchanging rule of events,
will hence forth be seen as retro-active and not representative of the individually determined is.
Furthermore, as determined by the collective consciousness of this state of being
and the lessened distance between thought patterns and their secular manifestations,
the role of men as listening receptacles is to be increased by a number
no less than 70 percent of the current enlisted as vocal aggressors.
Motherfuckers better realize, now is the time to self-actualize.

We have found evidence that hip hop's standard 85 rpm
when increased by a number of at least half the rate of its standard
or decreased to ¾ of its speed
may be a determining factor in heightening consciousness.
Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging,
the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Equate rhyme with reason
Sun with season

Our cyclical relationship to phenomenon has encouraged scholars to erase the centers of periods,
thus symbolizing the non-linear character of cause and effect.

Reject mediocrity!

Your current frequencies of understanding
outweigh that which has been given for you to understand.
The current standard is the equivalent of an adolescent restricted to the diet of an infant.
The rapidly changing body would acquire dysfunctional and deformative symptoms,
and could not properly mature on a diet of applesauce and crushed pears.

Light years are interchangeable with years of living in darkness.
The role of darkness is not to be seen as, or equated with,
ignorance, but with the unknown, and the mysteries of the unseen.

Thus, in the name of:
ROBESON, GOD'S SON, HURSTON, AKHENATON, HATSHEPSUT, BLACKFOOT, HELEN, LENNON, KAHLO, KALI, THE THREE MARIAS, TARA, LILITH, LORDE, WHITMAN, BALDWIN, GINSBERG, KAUFMAN, LUMUMBA, GANDHI, GIBRAN, SHABAZZ, SHABAZZ, SIDDHARTHA, MEDUSA, GUEVARA, GURDJIEFF, RAND, WRIGHT, BANNEKER, TUBMAN, HAMER, HOLIDAY, DAVIS, COLTRANE, MORRISON, JOPLIN, DUBOIS, CLARKE, SHAKESPEARE, RACHMANINOV, ELLINGTON, CARTER, GAYE, HATHAWAY, HENDRIX, KUTI, DICKERSON,
RIPERTON, MARY, ISIS, TERESA, HANSBERRY, TESLA, PLATH, RUMI, FELLINI,MICHAUX, NOSTRADAMUS, NEFERTITI, LA ROCK, SHIVA, GANESHA, YEMAJA, OSHUN, OBATALA, OGUN, KENNEDY, KING, FOUR LITTLE GIRLS, HIROSHIMA, NAGASAKI, KELLER, BIKO, PERON, MARLEY, MAGDALENE, COSBY, SHAKUR, THOSE WHO BURNED, THOSE STILL AFLAME, AND THE COUNTLESS UNNAMED.

We claim the present as the pre-sent, as the hereafter.
We are unraveling our navels so that we may ingest the sun.
We are not afraid of the darkness, we trust that the moon shall guide us.
We are determining the future at this very moment.
We know that the heart is the philosophers' stone.
Our music is our alchemy.
We stand as the manifested equivalent of 3 buckets of water and a handful of minerals,
thus realizing that those very buckets turned upside down supply the percussive factor of forever.
If you must count to keep the beat then count.
Find your mantra and awaken your subconscious.
Walk your circles counterclockwise.
Use your cipher to decipher coded language, manmade laws.
Climb waterfalls and trees; commune with nature, snakes and bees.
Let your children name themselves and claim themselves
as the new day for today
We are determined to be the channelers of these changing frequencies into songs,
paintings, writings, dance, drama, photography, carpentry, crafts, love, and love.
We enlist every instrument: acoustic, electronic.
Every so-called gender, race, sexual preference.
Every per-son as beings of sound
to acknowledge their responsibility to uplift the consciousness
of the entire fucking world.
Any utterance unaimed, will be disclaimed, will be maimed - two rappers slain.
Any utterance unaimed, will be disclaimed, will be maimed - two rappers slain.

Baptist rev. Saul S. Williams (Saul's father) 1999:

I just want to talk about a good father, now coming
from me If you where to personally
look at my life, you would ask the
question what do you know about a good father?
And that would be a fair question, because one of
the statements I have written on my notes
here today is that men need examples and
that's not holy men, all of us are helped by examples.
But it does seem that as men we feel better when
other men show us that they are man
enough to do whatever it is that we have
hesitancy in doing, whether it is cook, sew,
babysit, or to shout, clap our hands, cry.
We sometimes can't do it until we
see other men who have lost themselves
in the praise of God and in life.
So it would certainly be a fair question, on this
Father's Day to ask, what do you know about a good father.
Now when I say father I am speaking of one who
is the guardian or biological male in your life.
Who takes you out with them, who teaches
you and gives you the instructions to follow.
Proverbs talks about the son or daughter following
the instructions of the father, well, certainly there is no
equivocation about that, that's
wonderful, howe'er, in order to follow one's instructions
they most know what they're doing.
We ask sociologically why are there so
many messed up families, what's the problem?
Well, in most of those cases, those children
have no or little example to follow.
There are exceptions but in most of those cases
they have little or no example to follow.
A good father is more than one who
provides shelter, food and body coverings.
Now I pray that those fathers who are
here and those mothers who had to
be fathers also and everyone once in a while we find
some fathers who had to be mothers also:

Saul:

Our father which art in St. Francis hospital for hypertension.
Our father which art in jumpsuits and prisons, federal detention.
Our father which art in dark bars and alleys, lethal injection.
Our father which art in denial and delusion. This cannot happen again.

Hallowed be thy. State your name for the record.
Hallowed be thy. State your name for the record.
Hallowed be thy. State your name for the record.
Hallowed be thy. State your name for the record.
Hallowed be thy. State your name for the record.
Hallowed be thy. State your name for the record.

Solstice (relion?)

Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering, can you hear us now.
Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering, can you hear us now.
Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering, can you feel us now.
Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering, can you heal us now.

When I was young I cried when I found out I couldn't have children
soon after I started rhyming no one was nicer than me
I mean it upstate New York
I learned to beat box in my tree house
sounded good out there
would you rather hear about guns and fear
or broken glass in the tenement
should I rob to make you fear me now.
Dear Goddess can you hear me now clear the
way and prepare me now dear Goddess can you hear me now.

Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering, can you hear us now.
Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering, can you heal us now.

I'm suppose to be less of an MC
‘cause I never sold a key. I sold my homework but
y'all niggas were too busy hustling to do
the down work now you can only rhyme about
how you're stealing chrome work or your cell phone jerk
change your topic, damn I'm suppose to be praying
I got to stop it.

Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering, can you hear us now.
Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering, can you hear us now.

Dear Goddess we made this break beat just for you
as an offering. an offering.

The new wine is dying on the vine
how much must you age before you're ageless?
align yourself with the divine
allow your inner sage to burn your rage less
'cause I find through testaments of time
there is no space for time within your mind
if you're looking for yourself, yourself you'll find
through the crystal of your spirit you'll inherit the divine
you are God, you best believe
don't waste your time down on your knees
it's everybody for themselves
you are the fire and the cross
don't save your soul it's our loss
collective soul, collective wealth

The new wine is dying on the vine
how much must you age before you're ageless?
align yourself with the divine
allow your inner sage to burn your rage less
'cause I find through testaments of time
there is no space for time within your mind
if you're looking for yourself, yourself you'll find
through the crystal of your spirit you'll inherit the divine
you are God, you best believe
don't waste your time down on your knees
it's everybody for themselves
you are the fire and the cross
don't save your soul it's our loss
collective soul, collective wealth

Chorus (x2):
Now do you know how I feel tonight?
Now can't you see I'm surreal tonight?
See how I shine I'm a star, yeah
Now do you know who you are, yeah?

I've got a daughter and son
that's like a bible and gun
pea-cocked and ready aimin' steady as a ray of the sun
my ammunition, intuition, fully clipped to my lung
son, you could never guess what planet I'm from
my emcee name is my birth name, my first name
alias is all of us, Saul of us, the fall of us
to surely come when we deny it
loudest nigga gets quiet
This inner peace is a riot
sell your soul if you wanna, but that don't mean I'mma buy it
see I've been conscious of your nonsense
Stayin' pensive and quiet
and I ain't gonna lie it
be too hard to deny it
I ain't from your block and never had to deal with your shit

never had a glock never kept it real with no bit
and when I saw a nigga like you, son I practically hid
'cause you did what you did and I wasn't the kid
don't give a fuck now, I be the first one to playa hate
the eye of the needle set the record straight
and I retire late, retire late, retaliate, retaliate
and I be fishin' on that same star you be wishin' on
make you move son, you know the mission's on
so never question who I am, God knows
and I know God personally
in fact he lets me call him me
in fact he lets me call him me

never question who I am, God knows
and I know God personally
in fact she lets me call her me
in fact she lets me call her me

Chorus (x6)

I can recite the grass on the hill and memorize the moon
I know the cloudforms of love by heart
and have brought tears to the eye of a storm
and my memory banks vaults of autumn forests and amazon river banks
and i've screamed them into sunsets that echo in earthquakes
shadows have been my spotlight as I monologue the night and dialogue with days
soliloquies of wind and breeze applauded by sun rays
we put language in zoos to observe caged thought
and tossed peanuts and p-funk at intellect
and motherfuckers think these are metaphors
i speak what I see
all words and worlds are metaphors of me
my life was authored by the moon
footprints written in soil
the fountain pen of martian men
novelling human toil
and yes, the soil speaks highly of me
but earth seeds root me poet-tree
now, maybe i'm too serious
too little here to matter
though i'm riddled with the reason of the sun
a stand up comet with the audience of lungs
this body of laughter is it with me or at me?
humor or less though gender's mute
and the punch line has this lifeline at its root
i'm a star, this life's the suburbs; I commute

Chorus (x2)