
From Malian desert rock to Afro-Cuban chants to ‘Noirwave’ and beyond, we list the 15 best albums of the year.
Saul Wiliams ‘Martyr Loser King’
In Martyr Loser King, Saul Williams presents a digital conversation between the First and Third Worlds, and their respective street sounds through the lens of a fictional computer hacker from Burundi.
Recorded across Senegal, Reunion Island, Paris, Haiti, New Orleans and New York, the project focuses on the act of political resistance with case studies from all over the globe.
“The power of being will always prevail over the powers that be, but not without effort on our end to connect our voices & struggles,” Williams wrote on his Tumblr. “Connect the dots & uplift the consciousness of the entire fucking world. (Side-effects may include getting shot by over militarized police who kill with impunity, facing serious time because of unchecked hacking & surveillance laws that were passed under our noses while the media preached fear….).”