Amethyst Rock Star

This article is about the Saul Williams album. For the Joey Badass song, see Summer Knights.

Amethyst Rock Star
Studio album by Saul Williams
Released	May 8, 2001 (2001-05-08)
Genre	Alternative hip hop
Length	58:26
Label	American Recordings
Producer	Rick Rubin, Musa Bailey, Krust, Saul Williams
Saul Williams chronology
Amethyst Rock Star (2001) Not in My Name (2003)

Amethyst Rock Star is the debut solo studio album by Saul Williams. It was released by American Recordings in 2001. It peaked at number 135 on the French Albums Chart.^[1]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[2]
Robert Christgau	[3]
Drowned in Sound	9/10[4]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[5]
NME	[6]
Pitchfork	8.1/10[7]
RapReviews.com	8/10[8]

Steve Kurutz of AllMusic gave the album 1.5 stars out of 5, saying: "Some of the language is downright laughable (see the trite themes of 'Fearless' for example) in any context, and the rest is mediocre at best."^[2] Kitty Empire of NME gave the album 3.5 stars out of 5, calling it "an ambitious collision of rock, hip-hop and spoken word, all united by a refusal to conform to the conventions of any of them."^[6]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Saul Williams, except where noted

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Lalala"		2:40
2.	"Penny for a Thought"	Williams, Musa Bailey	4:34
3.	"Robeson"		4:21
4.	"Tao of Now"	Williams, Musa Bailey	4:19
5.	"Fearless"	Williams, Thom Bahler	3:12
6.	"Untimely Meditations"		3:55
7.	"Om Nia Merican"		3:06
8.	"1987"		5:21
9.	"Coded Language"	Williams, Krust	8:48
10.	"Our Father"		7:06
11.	"Wine / Do You Know (hidden track)"		11:04

Japanese edition bonus track

No.	Title	Length
12.	"Brown Bags"	3:16

Personnel

Credits adapted from liner notes.

Musicians

• Saul Williams – vocals, co–production, arrangement
• Rick Rubin – production
• Musa Bailey – additional production (2), additional programming, turntables
• Krust – additional production (9)
• Esthero – vocals (4)
• Chad Smith – drums (7)
• Jerome Jordan – guitar, backing vocals
• Maximina Juson – bass guitar
• Maryam Blacksher – viola
• Nioka Workman – cello
• Kwame Brandt-Pierce – keyboards
• Chris Eddleton – drums
• Greg Gordon – recording
• Russell Elevado – recording, mixing

Technical personnel

• Marcia Jones – visual art
• Michael Crivello – visual art
• Brandy Flower – graphic design
• Michele Miller – photography
• B+ – photography
• Mei Lei – journals
• Dorothy E. Wilcox – penpal
• Lindsay Chase – coordination

Charts

Chart	Peak position
French Albums (SNEP)[1]	135

References

1. "Lescharts.com – Saul Williams – Amethyst Rockstar". Hung Medien. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
2. Kurutz, Steve. "Amethyst Rock Star - Saul Williams". AllMusic. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
3. Christgau, Robert. "Saul Williams". Christgau's Consumer Guide. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
4. Adams, Sean (August 5, 2001). "Album Review: Saul Williams - Amethyst Rock Star". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on October 4, 2018. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
5. Sullivan, James (November 2, 2001). "Amethyst Rock Star". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
6. Empire, Kitty (September 12, 2005). "Saul Williams : Amethyst Rock Star". NME. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
7. Adickes, Kevin (November 26, 2001). "Saul Williams: Amethyst Rock Star". Pitchfork. Retrieved October 3, 2018.
8. Juon, Steve (April 2, 2002). "Saul Williams :: Amethyst Rock Star". RapReviews.com. Retrieved October 3, 2018.

External links

• Amethyst Rock Star at Discogs (list of releases)
• Amethyst Rock Star at MusicBrainz (list of releases)