''The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!'' is the third solo studio album by Saul Williams. It was released in 2007. It peaked at number 41 on the '' Billboard'' Heatseekers Albums chart, as well as number 89 on the

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart. The album is entirely produced by

Trent Reznor Michael Trent Reznor (born May 17, 1965) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He serves as the lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, wh ...

. The title of the album is a reference to

David Bowie David Robert Jones (8 January 194710 January 2016), known professionally as David Bowie ( ), was an English singer-songwriter and actor. A leading figure in the music industry, he is regarded as one of the most influential musicians of the ...

's 1972 album ''

The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars ''The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars'' (often shortened to ''Ziggy Stardust'') is the fifth studio album by English musician David Bowie, released on 16June 1972 in the United Kingdom through RCA Records. It was co-pr ...

''.

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 192kbit/s MP3 version, 320kbit/s MP3 version or lossless

FLAC FLAC (; Free Lossless Audio Codec) is an audio coding format for lossless compression of digital audio, developed by the Xiph.Org Foundation, and is also the name of the free software project producing the FLAC tools, the reference software p ...

version. 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 Radiohead are an English rock band formed in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke (vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards); brothers Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments) and Colin Greenwood (bass) ...

is" and urging fans to support him. This was a reference to Radiohead's ''

In Rainbows ''In Rainbows'' is the seventh studio album by the English rock band Radiohead. It was self-released on 10 October 2007 as a pay-what-you-want download, followed by a physical release internationally through XL Recordings and in North America ...

'', 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. 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. 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 AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

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 ''PopMatters'' is an international online magazine of cultural criticism that covers aspects of popular culture. ''PopMatters'' publishes reviews, interviews, and essays on cultural products and expressions in areas such as music, television, fi ...

'' 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 *

– production, programming, backing vocals (5, 8) *

Atticus Ross Atticus Matthew Cowper Ross (born 16 January 1968) is an English musician, record producer, composer, and audio engineer. Along with Trent Reznor, he won the Academy Award for Best Original Score for '' The Social Network'' in 2010. In 2013, th ...

– additional programming *

Thavius Beck Thavius Beck (born July 31, 1979) is an American record producer and rapper. He has been a member of Global Phlowtations and Lab Waste. He has also put out solo releases under the moniker Adlib. He is a certified trainer of Ableton Live. Biograp ...

– production (1, 7), programming (1, 7) * CX KiDTRONiK – production, programming, backing vocals (1, 6) *

Isaiah "Ikey" Owens Randolph Isaiah "Ikey" Owens (December 1, 1974 – October 14, 2014) was an American keyboardist known for his work with The Mars Volta, Jack White and an array of bands from the Long Beach music scene. Biography He notably performed as a m ...

– keyboards (7) * Xuly Azaro – backing vocals (9) * Maryam Nalo Blacksher – viola (13) *

Gingger Shankar Gingger Shankar is an American singer, composer and multi-instrumentalist. She has scored several films, including '' Circumstance''. Early life Shankar was born in Los Angeles, California and raised there and in India. She is the eldest daugh ...

– double violin (13) *

Persia White Persia Jessica White (born October 25, 1972) is a Bahamas-born American actress, singer and musician. White is known for her role as Denise Williams on the short-lived television series ''Breaker High'' and as Lynn Searcy on the UPN/ CW sitcom '' ...

– backing vocals (11) *

Alan Moulder Alan Moulder (born 11 June 1959) is an English record producer, mixing engineer, and audio engineer. Early life Moulder was born on 11 June 1959 in Boston, Lincolnshire. He was educated at Boston Grammar School. He had an interest in music fro ...

– mixing *

Brian Gardner Brian Knapp Gardner, also known as Brian "Big Bass" Gardner, is an American mastering engineer. He has worked on a number of recordings since the mid-1960s, including classic rock, funk, disco, alternative rock, R&B, hip hop, pop punk and dance- ...

– mastering Technical personnel * Angelbert Metoyer – artwork *

Melody Ehsani Melody Ehsani (born March 27, 1980) is an American fashion designer based in Los Angeles. She is notably Foot Locker's first women's creative director and has collaborated with the likes of Nike and Reebok. Career Melody Ehsani was born in Los ...

– cover art, jewelry design *

Rob Sheridan Robert Sheridan (born October 11, 1979) is an American graphic designer, art director, photographer, and comic book author best known for his extensive work with the band Nine Inch Nails. Biography Sheridan attended art school at New York's Pr ...

– graphic design, layout

Charts

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust!, The 2007 albums Albums free for download by copyright owner Saul Williams albums Albums produced by Trent Reznor