***…about Saul Williams…*** ***Saul Williams came to worldwide attention as a writer and performer with his debut film, SLAM (dir. Marc Levin) winning Sundance's Grand Jury Prize and Cannes Camera D'Or in 1998, introducing the world to the phenomenon of slam poetry competitions and Saul as a global ambassador of modern poetry.*** ***As a musician, Saul's albums have featured genre-bending collaborations with producers, such as Rick Rubin and Trent Reznor, that helped usher in Brooklyn's Afro-Punk movement. Saul has also collaborated with “Contemporary Music” composers, writing the libretto for Ted Hearne's LA Philharmonic produced oratorio “PLACE” and two symphonies by the late Swiss composer, Thomas Kessler, based on two books of Saul's poetry, “,said the shotgun to the head.” and “The Dead Emcee Scrolls. Overall, Saul has released six studio albums and five books of poetry, translated into multiple languages.*** ***In 2022, Saul wrote, composed the soundtrack/score, and co-directed the science-fiction musical Neptune Frost, alongside his co-director and creative partner, Anisia Uzeyman. Neptune Frost made its world debut as part of Cannes Film Festival's “Director's Fortnight” and was selected by NYT's film critic A.O. Scott as the #2 film of the year.*** ***As an actor Saul has worked in theater, film and television. He was a series regular on the sitcom “Girlfriends.” He is the first African-American to win Best Actor in Africa's largest film festival FESPACO for his work in the Senegalese film TEY (“Aujourd'hui”) directed by Alain Gomis and his 2020 performance in “Akilla’s Escape” earned him a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Actor.*** ***He was the lead in Broadway's first Hip Hop musical, “Holler If You Hear Me”, based on the lyrics of Tupac Shakur and directed by Kenny Leon. Saul also starred in the two final campaigns of Virgil Abloh for Louis Vuitton, appearing in “Peculiar Contrast, Perfect Light” (F/W 2021) and “Amen Break” (S/S 2022). Most recently, Saul appears as the preacher “Jedidiah Moore” in Ryan Coogler's “Sinners”.*** ***As a performer, Saul has toured in over forty countries, lectured in hundreds of universities, and served as a guest professor of poetry and performance at Stanford University.*** ***Saul holds a BA in Theater and Philosophy from Morehouse College and MFA in Acting from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts.*** ***…about Carlos Niño…*** ***A prolific album Producer, expansive Percussionist, experimental Composer, connector, communicator, Carlos Niño is known primarily for his main project Carlos Niño & Friends, and for his extensive work on André 3000’s New Blue Sun. Previously Niño made albums as/with Ammoncontact, Build An Ark, The Life Force Trio, and others. Niño cites Iasos, Laraaji, Luis Pérez Ixoneztli, Adam Rudolph, Idris Ackamoor, Pharoah Sanders, Don Cherry, Yusef Lateef, Alice Coltrane, Airto, Kamau Daaood, Dwight Trible, Dexter Story, Jesse Peterson, Miguel Atwood-Ferguson, Jamire Williams, Deantoni Parks, Surya Botofasina, Nate Mercereau, and André 3000 as among his “closest Mentors, Influences, Elders, and peers, all of whom I know well, (or at least met several times,) in this life . . .”*** Presented by The Sultan Room. This is a 21+ event