Saul Williams meets Carlos Niño & Friends at TreePeople, the first collaborative album from poet/vocalist Saul Williams and percussionist/producer Carlos Niño, has been nominated for a 2026 GRAMMY Award for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.
It is the first ever GRAMMY nomination for the poet, performer, actor and musician Williams, coming more than 25 years into his career as a recording artist.
For Niño, the nomination follows his major presence in the pool of 2025 GRAMMY Award nods, where he was nominated in the ‘Best Instrumental Composition’ category, and André 3000’s album New Blue Sun that Niño co-produced was nominated for ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Best Alternative Jazz Album’.
“Musically ambitious, exploratory, and principled, this is a necessary statement for our times.” –WIRE Magazine
“An album of invocation, memory, resistance, and release, it bridges generations, disciplines, and intentions.” –Cast the Dice
“Urgent and immensely powerful.” –FLOOD
“Williams lifts a suite of soothing ambient jazz into something powerful, optimistic and inspiring.”
–The Quietus
“It’s a message his country – and the rest of the world – needs to hear, and on this beautiful, angry and groundbreaking live album, he gets that message across with unrivaled eloquence.” –KLOF
“Deep and moving.” –mxdwn
“This album marks a new enterprise and platform for greater harmony and a safe place for experimentation.” –Monolith Cocktail