Breaking Barriers

Two visionaries, TRENT REZNOR and SAUL WILLIAMS, collaborate on a provocative, experimental release

Rock visionary and Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor has always pushed the boundaries of his art as a songwriter, musician, performer and producer. So it was not surprising that he found a kindred soul in progressive rapper, actor and spoken word artist, Saul Williams. Reznor produced William's latest solo album, The Rise And Inevitable Liberation of NiggyTardust!, a genre-defying, wildly ambitious work. Ever the musical provocateurs, the two artists decided to release the album in an unconventional way. So, in November, they followed Radiohead's In Rainbows model and allowed fans to download it for free, or pay $5 for a higher quality version.

In early January, the Nine Inch Nails front man announced the results of the download experiment, characterizing them as "disheartening." Though the album was an artistic success and had been downloaded a respectable 150,000 times, less than one in five participants had opted to pay the fee.

"I thought that it would appeal to more people than it did," he told CNET News, adding that he considered $5 "an insulting low price." "That's where my sense of disappointment is in general, that the idea was wrong in my head and for once I've given people too much credit."

The music story of 2007 for many was Radiohead's decision to let people pay whatever they wanted for its seventh studio album, In Rainbows, which was made available for download in October. Though Radiohead did not give out official sales figures for the project, it was seen as a success, especially after a physical version of the album – released in early January – hit number one on Billboard's album chart and moved well over 100,000 units in its first week.

But comparing Williams' effort to Radiohead's is perhaps not a fair analysis. Though he is a highly-regarded artist, Williams' name recognition doesn't approach that of Radiohead's. What's more, Niggy Tardust! is an experimental album, inaccessible to most mainstream fans because of its complex subject matter and abrasive production. Upon the album's release, Williams described it as "ghetto gothic" or "hard-core dance," and an update of sorts to David Bowie's The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.

NiggyTardust! is intended to be "biracial music for beyond-racial times," he went on. "It might mean that, 'Yeah, I was born in the ghetto, but that doesn't mean that I speak this way, or I walk this way, or I dress this way, or I only listen to this stuff.' It's about a hybrid mentality." Featuring a cover of U2's "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and Public Enemy samples, the album also contains Reznor's signature imprints via its dark, industrial beats, not to mention its provocative subject matter.

Though the two seem to be an unlikely pairing, Reznor said he was turned on to Williams' music after seeing his video for "List of Demands (Reparations)" -- a song off Williams' 2004 self-titled album. "[It] really impressed me as a strong piece of work, as an aggressive rock-type track that jumped out of the television," said Reznor. The often-political nature of Williams' oeuvre paired up well with Reznor's recent songs, and when Williams toured with the multi-platinum rockers Nine Inch Nails in 2006, he and Reznor shared their visions and brainstormed ideas for the Niggy Tardust! project.

Upon its completion they briefly shopped it to major labels but, as Reznor Reznor said, "I wasn't looking to jump right back into another binding contract with a big company, and I just wanted to make sure that I wasn't advising Saul to do that in today's climate." Instead, they made the fairly impulsive decision to put the music out themselves.

"From the start, I remember Trent saying, 'Let's give it away for free,'" Williams said. "At first, I was like, 'This dude is out of his mind!' But then it really started making sense, and, of course, with Radiohead doing it, we were like, 'Why not?' The idea that we had was great, and we should really follow it through."

For Reznor, it was a chance to express his ideals about art and the music industry. "At the end of the day, I care most about the integrity of the music, and that the feeling of those who experience it is as untainted as possible," he said, also calling the project the "coolest collaboration I've had outside of Nine Inch Nails."

As an owner of his music and free to do with it what he wishes, Williams seems pleased with how everything turned out. He told CNET News that "the album has gotten a great deal of write-ups and received a huge response from people immediately." He went on, "That's what this album was for...to set the stage for me to perform in the way I like to perform and maybe get more people at a show than I normally would."

— Ben Westhoff