Those familiar with Saul Williams might stumble at the thought of a collaboration between the incendiary poet and shoe titan Nike.
Williams has a rep for truth-to-power rants and raps for films like Slam, antiwar chapbooks like said the shotgun to the head, and musical releases like the recently released The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! In fact, the latter was produced by Trent Reznor, distributed for free from Williams' official site, and, like some museums on a good day, only asked for a five dollar donation in return.
Street cred, intact.
But it is nevertheless weird to watch the Nike video below, which is set to Williams' poverty anthem "List of Demands" from his self-titled 2004 effort. After all, its title derives from trade union legalese and its oft-repeated chorus is "We're living hand to mouth." Even for the art-commerce merge, that skews strange as a licensing choice for a multinational corporation sometimes known for its exorbitant product pricing, troubled labor history and environmental offenses.
Editing, however, takes care of much of that. See the video below.
As cool as it is to see Steve Nash, Landon Donovan and other pro athletes compete and work out to Saul Williams, it just feels weird that it is for this particular song. The contrast is accentuated by a viewing of the original video.
But the contrast may not be so sharp either. After all, Slam rode its way to fame thanks to promotion from the Sundance Film Festival. His book said the shot to the head was published by MTV Books. And then there is his collaboration with Nike, who have been known to propagate these cultural contradictions more than a few times. So where does he draw the line?
More importantly, where do you draw the line? Or do you draw it at all?
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Photo: SaulWilliams.com
