In 1995, hip-hop/spoken word artist Saul Williams [ tickets ] started delivering his insights and political views in his hometown of New York City. The following year, he won the title of Nuyorican Poets Cafe's Grand Slam Champion, and the event was captured in the award winning documentary film "Slam," featuring Williams.

Sailing under the mainstream radar ever since, the artist has released six studio albums and has collaborated on at least 19 records with names such as Trent Reznor [ tickets ], Zack De La Rocha [ tickets ], Sway & King Tech [ tickets ], Buckethead [ tickets ], and Nas [ tickets ], to name a few.

This year, he will be the opening act for a few dates on Les Claypool's "Oddity Faire -- A Mutated Mini Fest", joining the tour in Los Angeles (3/7), where he will no doubt test run some of the tracks from his latest set "NGH WHT - The Dead Emcee Scrolls with The Arditti Quartet."

Williams performed at San Francisco's "Be The Riott Festival" in
November 2006, and here are some the photos I took of his performance.