The Inevitable Rise And Liberation Of N***y Tardust

Saul Williams

2007

N***y Tardust: Grippo King, philosopher, and artist. Downright to the marrow, he’s the arrow through the heartless. In the end, N***y Tardust realizes that his only enemy is himself and that he has to overcome the boundaries set before him in order to become liberated.

Williams created the character as a direct, provocative nod to David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust, to dismantle the historical weight of “the N-word”. He envisioned re-contextualizing the slur into a symbol of pride and liberation, akin to “making origami out of a Klan poster.”