I am not the son of sha-klak klak/ i am before that/ i am before / i am before before/ before death is eternity after death is eternity/ there is no death there’s only eternity/ and i be riding on the wings of eternity like/ CLA CLA CLA SHA KLACK KLACK
Saul Williams, award-winning actor, spoken-word artist, and musician, helped break the cafeteria’s room capacity with his voice.
In celebration of Black History month, over three hundred people crammed in the Founder’s cafeteria at the third annual Hip-Hop Conference last Friday evening. Like an avalanche the cooool crowd kept flowing, onto the floor, on top of tables, into the balconies. They all wanted to hear Williams’ hip-hop-style poetry.
Not many speakers at Guilford can keep an audience’s attention for longer than 75 minutes. But for several hours, Williams cooed and beat, slammin’ his way across musical and cultural barriers.
He fired off rounds of metaphors and threw curve-ball references: biblical, mythological, Shakespearean, and pop culture. Nowhere did he seem clich.
Williams was anything but predictable. One moment, he’s your closest friend, telling childhood stories of when he used to be called “Black Stacey.” Suddenly, he emerges into a dynamic political activist. In “Coded Language,” Williams deviated from his role as poetry icon and hip-hop entertainer into a passionate teacher.
“Whereas,” Williams started, “Break beats have been the missing link connecting the diaspora community to its drum-woven past.”
Then he captivated the audience in a tangent deconstructing his own poetry. He started to translate, speaking of the poem as a metaphor between the hip-hop artist and listener.
“Hip hop is a powerful art form. It’s the only art form to give an instant affirmative.” During his pontification, the audience nodded their heads in agreement, nodding to the beat of bass.
“Hitler could only wish for such a drug,” Williams said.”(Hip-hop) has gotten very synched up across the world. It’s everywhere. It’s the first music that has everyone in sync.”
One of the M.C.’s for the conference, Abdul-Qawiy Abdul-Karim, felt that some of the beauty of the arts is not what you say, but how you say it.
“Whether it’s hip-hop or any other art form – if it speaks to people, people will find a way to speak through it,” Abdul-Karim said.
Earlier this month when first-year Mandy Buck learned Williams was coming to Winston-Salem, she asked Union to book him to perform at Guilford. This was the second time she has seen Williams perform.
“He pulls you in,” Buck said. “There’s something about Saul Williams. He is so charismatic and his voice is so full – he has a poetic way of speaking, so natural it’s not forced.”
“The whole atmosphere was chill and everyone was feeling the vibe,” Abdul-Karim said. “One of the goals of the Hip-Hop Conference was to bring people together. I think we definitely accomplished that Friday night.”
Williams may be best known for his award winning performance in Slam, which won the 1998 Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. His debut album Amethyst Rock Star came out in 2001 and became instantly popular in the U.S. and Europe. Williams is currently on tour promoting his third book, Said the Shotgun to the Head.
Wrapping up his performance, Williams went for a unifying outreach, something Guilford students of all ages could appreciate.
“It’s a very amazing age,” Williams said. “If all college students vote, they alone will determine who will be the next president of the U.S. Don’t become disillusioned by the current state of affairs.”
The whole audience gave an instant affirmative.