The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! is the third solo studio album by Saul Williams. It was released in 2007.Saul Williams: NiggyTardust.com website. Retrieved on January 26, 2008. It peaked at number 41 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart, as well as number 89 on the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album is entirely produced by Trent Reznor. The title of the album is a reference to David Bowie's 1972 album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
Release The album was available for purchase or free download at NiggyTardust.com. The website allowed users to pay $5 to support the artist and be given the choice of downloading a 192 kbit/s MP3 version, 320 kbit/s MP3 version or lossless FLAC version.Download info: NiggyTardust.com website. Retrieved on January 26, 2008. Digital distribution of the album is provided by Musicane. Reznor publicised the album on the Nine Inch Nails website and mailing list, saying that "Saul's not the household name that Radiohead is" and urging fans to support him. This was a reference to Radiohead's In Rainbows, which was released in October on the band's own website with customers choosing how much they want to pay for the album. The free option has since been removed, with a message on the website claiming their intention had always been to remove it after 100,000 free downloads of the album.Download info: NiggyTardust.com website
It was announced at nin.com that, as of January 2, 2008, two months since its release, 154,449 people had downloaded NiggyTardust. Of that number, 28,322 people chose to pay the asked price of US$5 (US$141,610 Total). In comparison, Saul's self-titled album has sold 30,000 copies since its release in 2004.Download info : Digg.com website. Retrieved on January 26, 2008.
A physical release of the album was released on July 8, 2008. It contained five bonus tracks.MVRemix, , MVRemix Urban, May 23, 2008, Retrieved May 28, 2008.
Critical reception
Thom Jurek of AllMusic gave the album 4.5 stars out of 5, saying: "This is Williams' finest moment, and interestingly, one of Reznor's, too."
Quentin B. Huff of PopMatters placed it at number 12 on the "101 Hip-Hop Albums of 2007" list.
Track listing
Personnel Credits adapted from liner notes.
Musicians Saul Williams – vocals, programming Trent Reznor – production, programming, backing vocals (5, 8) Atticus Ross – additional programming Thavius Beck – production (1, 7), programming (1, 7) CX KiDTRONiK – production, programming, backing vocals (1, 6) Isaiah "Ikey" Owens – keyboards (7) Xuly Azaro – backing vocals (9) Maryam Nalo Blacksher – viola (13) Gingger Shankar – double violin (13) Persia White – backing vocals (11) Alan Moulder – mixing Brian Gardner – mastering
Technical personnel Angelbert Metoyer – artwork Melody Ehsani – cover art, jewelry design Rob Sheridan – graphic design, layout
Charts Chart Peakposition US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) 41 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard) 89
References
External links