This much we know to be true: Def Comedy Jam is often the province of fools — well-intentioned though they may be — and as a result, one does not exactly expect to find revelation there. The baggage of the poetry slam era is just too much for any mortal to carry, but here’s the thing: Somehow, Saul Williams has burned it all off, perhaps hatched upon a new model for poet-as-popstar, and done the really, wildly super-unlikely thing of creating poetry that is relevant and cool. Check the piece in the clip at right, which is called “Coded Language”: We can make the easy guarantee that it will definitely be the coolest thing you’ve ever seen on Def Comedy Jam. It may even inspire, which is crazy, I know, at this late date. Williams is in town tomorrow night at The Trocadero, and we’ve got tickets. To enter to win, send an email to ihopeiwin[at]philebrity[dot]com with “WHEREAS BREAKBEATS HAVE BEEN THE MISSING LINK” as the subject header. We’ll pick a winner overnight and hook you up in the morning.

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 10th, 2008 at 1:32 pm.