Saul Williams: NPR Music Tiny Desk Concert

September 16, 2016 by BOB BOILEN In terms of sheer intensity, Saul Williams Tiny Desk concert may be the most potent in our eightyear history. Only Kate Tempest comes to mind as its equal, which makes sense given that both mix music with bracing, truthful poetry. In Williams opening song Burundi, from his album MartyrLoserKing the main character is a computer hacker who lives in Burundi and fights for democracy: Question your authority, genocide and poverty Treaties don t negate the fact you re dealing stolen property Hacker, I m a hacker, I m a hacker in your hard drive Hundred thousand dollar Tesla ripping through your hard drive Accompanied by two acoustic guitars as they pound out a beat, Williams became ever more animated, riled and firm. Then, Think Like They Book Say paid homage to Chelsea Manning, the soldier serving a prison sentence for leaking classified information to WikiLeaks. To close out the set, Williams cradled my James Brown doll and issued a powerful, somewhat offthecuff v