What poetry slam is to stand-up comedy, spoken word is to rap: a more cerebral counterpart, one that, with its overt intellectualism, always carries the risk of cringe. But with Saul Williams, that was never the case. No matter who he collaborated with – whether Trent Reznor or Rick Rubin – his fierce texts and powerful delivery always hit hard, without the slightest hint of embarrassment. That holds true for at TreePeople as well, recorded live on December 18, 2024, under oak and walnut trees in Los Angeles’ Coldwater Canyon Park.
Carlos Niño assembled an ensemble for the occasion – the same one that helped shape large parts of André 3000’s flute opus New Blue Sun. Around Williams’ moving and unsettling words, an electroacoustic ecosystem takes shape, evolving organically and breathing both transcendence and spirituality. A wide array of percussion from Mexico to Egypt, flutes, processed guitar, vibraphone, and multiple saxophones provide the sonic foundation – for example, to support Williams’ reflections on the Indigenous Lenape, their island Manahatta, and the origins of Wall Street. At the end, Williams passes the mic to poet aja monet, who speaks – a little more gently – of the apocalypse.
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