Saul Williams Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

After a six-year break from rapping, New York City’s Heems is coming back with a new album, record label, and lifestyle brand. LAFANDAR, a project entirely produced by Lapgan, will arrive on February 16 through Veena Sounds, a new label founded by the former Das Racist member.

Guy Lodge Film Critic On the final weekend of a bustling 18-day event, the in-person edition of this year’s Melbourne Film Festival has drawn to a close with an awards ceremony that saw a whopping $300,000 AUD (over $191,000 USD) in prize money handed out across six categories. The biggest individual award of $140,000 AUD (nearly $90,000 USD) was presented to the winner of the fest’s international Bright Horizons competition: “Banel & Adama,” an arresting debut feature by Franco-Senegalese filmmaker Ramata-Toulaye Sy.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief The Melbourne International Film Festival has unveiled the full lineup for its 2023 edition, with “Shayda,” by Australian-Iranian director Noora Niasari, set as the opening title. The festival will run as a live event August 3-20, at venues around the city and its suburbs, and online Aug 18 – 27. The hybrid format was developed during the COVID pandemic and MIFF found it useful as a tool to reach further away audiences and wider demographics than a strictly in-theater edition. The ‘Bright Horizons’ competition section open to films by first- or second-time feature directors contains an 11-title mix of new and recently-debuted works.

EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has acquired all U.S. rights to documentary Ever Deadly about avant-garde Inuk throat singer-songwriter, novelist, visual artist and activist Tanya Tagaq.

While your future planning probably only extends to Thanksgiving, the Sundance Film Festival is already thinking ahead to January, the 2023 edition of their festival. Today,  the nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today the first two films in the lineup for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival and they are the 25th Anniversary and digital restoration screening of “SLAM” and the uncensored director’s cut and restoration of “The Doom Generation.” Directed by Marc Levin and written by Levin, Saul Williams, Sonja Sohn, and Richard Stratton, “SLAM” was first introduced to audiences at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival, where it premiered in the U.S.

Before the full slate is announced for the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, the Park City, Utah event has already teed up two movies: the 25th Anniversary and digital restoration screening of Marc Levin’s Slam and the uncensored director’s cut and restoration of Gregg Araki’s The Doom Generation.

Denzel Curry has announced a deluxe reissue of his recent fifth album, ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future’, for which he’s re-recorded eight of its songs with his 10-piece ensemble, The Cold Blooded Soul Band.According to a press release, Curry and the band – which features guitar, bass, keys, drums, percussion, a four-piece horn ensemble and a backing vocalist – recorded the ten songs that comprise the second disc in a single take. Curry first unveiled the Cold Blooded Soul Band during his appearance on NPR’s Tiny Desk Concert back in June.In addition to eight of the tracks from the original album, the band also recorded two previously-unreleased songs: ‘Chrome Hearts’ and ‘Larger Than Life’. You can see the cover art and tracklisting for ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future: The Extended Edition’ below, while pre-orders for the new edition can be found here.Alongside the news, Curry has shared a music video for ‘X-Wing’, directed by Adrian Villagomez.

Jessica Kiang After 18 days of in-person screenings, over 370 movies and the allocation of a new prize fund totaling $210,000 AUD (approx. $145,000 USD) the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) has to be one of the lengthiest, liveliest and now most lucrative film festivals in the world.

Mykki Blanco has today (August 10) shared a new song, ‘Steps’ – check it out below.The song features MNEK and Saul Williams and is taken from Blanco’s upcoming new album, ‘Stay Close To Music’, which arrives on October 14 via Transgressive records.Speaking of their new single, Blanco explained, “I think a song like ‘Steps’ is a testament to what can happen when three very unique artists are given time to create a meditation together – to respond to one another when the moment is right –  almost like the lines of a haiku – maybe ‘Steps’ is a prayer unique in its ability to transcend and transform and provide peace without necessarily providing an answer.”Mykki continued: “In many ways ‘Steps’ symbolises a pointed progression in my songwriting. I think as a songwriter, I was not always willing to be so vulnerable.

), Levon Hawke (“The Crowded Room”), Trew Mullen (“Sunny Family Cult”), Saul Williams (“Akilla’s Escape”) and newcomer Cris Costa will round out the cast.Previously, TheWrap reported that Simon Rex, hot off the success of A24’s “Red Rocket,” had signed on to star along with Naomi Ackie and Channing Tatum. With a script penned by Kravitz and E.T.

EXCLUSIVE: Zoë Kravitz has rounded out the cast for her directorial debut Pussy Island, with Christian Slater (Dr. Death), Alia Shawkat (Search Party) and Geena Davis (Thelma & Louise) signing on for roles, along with Adria Arjona (Morbius), Haley Joel Osment (Goliath), Liz Caribel Sierra (God’s Time), Levon Hawke (The Crowded Room), Trew Mullen (Sunny Family Cult), Saul Williams (Akilla’s Escape), Cris Costa and Kyle MacLachlan (Blue Velvet).

Welcome to another episode of the Scene 2 Seen Podcast! It’s your host Valerie Complex and I am back with another exciting episode.

A fantastic new sci-fi musical is on the horizon from Saul Williams, who co-directs alongside cinematographer Anisia Uzeyman and brings an Afrofuturist vision to the big screen with the sci-fi musical “Neptune Frost.” It will be executive produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda (“In The Heights“) and Stephen Hendel (“Finding Fela“) and features all-original music from Williams.

Denzel Curry has shared T-Pain collaboration ‘Troubles’, the third single to be lifted from the rapper’s forthcoming album ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future’ ahead of its arrival this Friday (March 25).‘Troubles’ features production from Kenny Beats, who Curry teamed up with back in 2020 for their ‘Unlocked’ EP (along with its remix project, ‘Unlocked 1.5’, the following year.) It arrives alongside a video directed by Adrian Villagomez, who also helmed the clips for the new album’s previous singles, ‘Walkin’ and ‘Zatoichi’.Check that out below:Curry announced ‘Melt My Eyez See Your Future’ back in January. The follow-up to 2019’s ‘Zuu’ features a wide assortment of producers, including JPEGMAFIA, Thundercat and Robert Glasper.

Today, Ugandan rapper and activist Ecko Bazz drops his new album Mmaso. A feverish and entirely gripping vision of post-industrial rap, Mmaso harnesses the fire-and-brimstone presence of Saul Williams with the grim, gunmetal sonics of Kanye West's Yeezus and latter-day The Bug.

NEW YORK -- Saul Williams' latest project is a blend of words and pictures.The rapper, actor and poet is working with illustrator Paul Davey (otherwise known as “mattahan”) on a graphic novel, “Let There Be Dark,” which publisher First Second Books calls a “high wire dance” that “mixes free verse and short personal essays and interrogates darkness.” The book is scheduled for the fall of 2023.“Through his words and Davey’s visionary art, the reader is taken on a dreamlike journey of ideas and questions that seek to root out white supremacist norms while it enchants the eyes and transports the mind,” according to a statement released Thursday by First Second Books, a Macmillan imprint.Williams, known for the film “Slam” and such albums as “Volcanic Sunlight,” said in a statement that he was excited to explore “the boundless mystery and beauty that connects deep sea, deep space, dark skin, and why we close our eyes when we kiss.”

APPOINTMENTSFormer major label exec Nick Stewart – who has run his own music business consultancy since 2007 – has been appointed as CEO of TCAT, or To Catch A Thief, an anti-piracy business majority owned by One Media iP Group which has, and I quote, a “ground-breaking AI software, which monitors millions of music tracks across the world, saving rights holders millions in unpaid or fraudulently claimed royalties”.————————————————–RELEASESDoja Cat has released her cover of Hole’s ‘Celebrity Skin’, which appeared in an advert during the Super Bowl this weekend.Central Cee has released new track ‘Khabib’ from his upcoming mixtape ‘23’.Ho99o9 have announced that they will release new album ‘Skin’ on 11 Mar. Produced by Travis Barker, it’ll feature guest appearances from Corey Taylor, Saul Williams and more.

EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has acquired worldwide rights to Afrofuturist sci-fi punk musical , co-directed by poet, musician, and actor Saul Williams and playwright and director Anisia Uzeyman.

EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has acquired worldwide rights to Afrofuturist sci-fi punk musical , co-directed by poet, musician, and actor Saul Williams and playwright and director Anisia Uzeyman.

Coltan, short for columbo-tantalite, is an ore containing the metal element tantalum, which due to its resistance to corrosion and high permittivity is used in capacitors essential to the functioning of smartphones, laptops, and other high-tech devices.

Directors Anisia Uzeyman and multi-talented Saul Williams deep dive into Afro-Futurism with the new film . Premiering at Director’s Fortnight in Cannes, and official selection at the Toronto International Film Festival, and New York Film Festival, this is a bold story about how the power of music, technology, and dreams can profoundly impact human connection.

Inuk throat singer Tanya Tagaq has announced a new album Tongues and shared the project's title track. The new music is produced by Saul Williams and mixed by Gonjasurfi, and incorporates excerpts from Tagaq's 2018 novel Split Tooth.

Christopher Vourlias Saul Williams spent nearly a decade bringing his directorial debut “Neptune Frost” to the screen, but not even the multi-talented, multi-disciplinary artist could have scripted the mad dash it took to take his passion project from the rolling hills of East Africa to the Croisette in Cannes.Shot on location in Rwanda over the course of 27 frenetic days, “Neptune Frost” had just wrapped principal photography last spring when the coronavirus pandemic began grounding planes and

Guy Lodge Film CriticThe weathered, storied face of rapper-actor Saul Williams does the heaviest lifting in “Akilla’s Escape,” an exceedingly solemn crime drama from Canadian filmmaker Charles Officer that benefits from every ounce of his natural gravitas. As a Toronto drug trader facing the ugly roots of his underworld life in the wake of a botched deal, Williams conveys decades of isolation, ennui and internalized violence in a shorthand of creased eyes and twitching lips.

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentAfter canceling its last edition due to the pandemic, Directors’ Fortnight, a section running alongside the Cannes Film Festival, will be back with a stylish and eclectic international lineup, including Joanna Hogg’s highly anticipated “The Souvenir Part II,” Saul Williams and Anisia Uzeyman’s Rwanda-set sci-fi film “Neptune Frost,” and Alice Rohrwacher, Pietro Marcello and Francesco Munzi’s “Futura.” The world premiere of “The Souvenir Part II” will

Elsa Keslassy International CorrespondentFrench sales company Wide Management has boarded Charles Officer’s crime-noir “Akilla’s Escape,” which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival. The film is headlined by poet-musician-actor Saul Williams, who also collaborated with Robert Del Naja of Massive Attack to create the original score.Williams stars in the film as Akilla Brown, a 40-year-old drug trader who is caught in the middle of a violent robbery after a routine deal goes bad.

TIFF Drama Gets Canada Deal

Amanda N'Duka pmc-editorial-managerEXCLUSIVE: Vertical Entertainment has snatched up the U.S. distribution rights to Akilla’s Escape, Charles Officer’s crime drama which had its world premiere at this year’s Toronto Film Festival and now has a planned release for Q2 of next year.Saul Williams (A Midsummer Night’s Dream) stars as Akilla Brown, an urban child-soldier who captures a fifteen-year-old Jamaican boy in the aftermath of an armed robbery.

Fifteen years ago, Saul Williams was a heavy metal-sampling hip-hop poet whose fiercely political live shows called for reparations at a time when that was not very fashionable. He now projects a much more subdued urgency in the title role of Charles Officer's Akilla's Escape, playing a man raised up amid violence who has never stopped trying to avoid it.

No one ever outruns their past. Momentary reprieves might mark your journey, but history always wins in the end.

Janet W. Lee Even the coronavirus pandemic couldn’t stop Saul Williams.Williams is riding a film career surge: directing his first feature “Neptune Frost” and debuting his dream project “Akilla’s Escape” at the Toronto Intl.