Saulo Oliveira S. is a rocker, music creator, writer and model. Also known as the “Prince of Rock”, his achievements prove his versatility. Saulo really earns this honorary title. He is royalty. The young and fresh singer-songwriter dropped his sophomore work, Prince of Rock, available everywhere. In this context, the single called “Renewing Rock N Roll” turns out to be a gem. The crown’s jewelry on Saulo’s repertoire.
With a notable cadence and vivid intonation this is a legit mark in his incipient career. One that takes flight on the wings of renowned references – and what a way to begin. “Renewing Rock N Roll” proves why the writer has the presence of rock royalty. More than this, Saulo proves his creativity in storytelling and galvanizing skill in music artistry.
The artistry of Saulo Oliveira S.
Interesting to say the least, Saulo’s work is the fruit of his inquisitive, prolific and ardently active personality. Oliveira was born on July 14th, 1993 in Birmingham, England. His musical work has influenced the Classic Rock scene. Bands such as The Doors, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Black Sabbath, Oasis, Nirvana and so on, which you can see right away. He also ventured into directing a documentary following Thomas Vinterberg’s Dogme 95. Plus, he composed the original score of this same documentary, “Ethics, Politics and Citizenship”, in 2013. Back in the day, that’s probably his first composition that we have news of.
Mr. Oliveira released the single “Old MTV” in 2019, a blues-beat ballad with nostalgic lyrics. The protesting opera-rock “What Governs Behind Them + Kool Kids Klub” followed. The pop-rock single “Like We Used To Do” followed. It was the turn of the Christmas single in October of 2019. “Antichrist-Mas” is a Christmas single that is anti-Christmas. The single was promoted in a superb horror film fashion, with the poster reading “The red this year will be Santa’s blood,” setting an uncompromising and formidably attractive tone. With “Wild Horizon,” the artist externalized his passion to conceptual work in 2020. A listener on Soundcloud described “The Doors of Perception” as a “masterpiece in the world of rock.”
But, where did he come from? What’s the reason for so much mystery surrounding his origin?
Saulo Oliveira S. is a spoilt and angry young millennial with a purpose. When it comes to precisely channeling such energy to converge on an idea, he is the greatest of his generation to date. It is remarkable for someone so young to have already accomplished the sweeping growth of “Wild Horizon” or the amazement of “Prince of Rock,” at least for the time being. The source of his revolt can be found. He attended a private Jesuit school and graduated from a Catholic institution. So possibly he feels unsatisfied with Christian theology as a result of the imposition of traditions on him in the years preceding his entry in music.
And music, specifically Rock, could not have chosen a better representative of this helpless and afflicted generation. Saulo Oliveira, who, now enthroned with a crown adorned with mature conquests, becomes the messenger of legitimate indignation against institutions. But the indignations portrayed in his music are not just random provocation; they are full of symbolism, subtexts, and, of course, the delicacy and sophistication of language that allow for an infinite number of interpretations of some of his songs. If Saulo is more literal in some pieces, he takes the road of a coded abstraction in others. His codes represent the essence of who he is. Saulo is a tenebrous tiger who is fundamentally complex.
Further facts…
Another curious and decisive fact in defining his profile is that, on 06/06/2006, by the age of 12, sitting on the curb at a crossroads, waiting for the school bus, playing his harmonica, Saulo was visited by a mysterious man who many came to believe was the devil. Saulo’s childhood friends who witnessed the scene describe him as “a tall, thin, bald white (albino) man, in black suit, who held a harmonica in his hands”.
The man claimed that the harmonica in his hand was from another dimension and would give its possessor unlimited creative and musical powers. He then proposes a challenge to the boy: a solo battle. “Whoever plays the best harmonica solo will have the Elder Harmonica”, said the man, according to witnesses. If Saulo lost he was to give the man his soul. “The devil played first and it was something no one ever heard before”, says a Saulo’s friend via video call.
The inspiration.
Saulo played “Man With a Harmonica” from Ennio Morricone. The man in black bowed low and left the Elder Harmonica at Saulo’s feet. The man walked down the street and was never seen again. From that day forward Saulo was called the “boy who defeated the devil and became bigger than God”.
“I remember this episode, the man had a snake kind of skin, but people tend to see things in a mystical or mythological way. It was just me and a strange guy playing. The man said if I lose he would get my soul away and if I win – which I did – I would be granted something he called the Elder Harmonica. I laughed. Souls aren’t real such as good or evil are not. He was just some random lunatic walking down the street but, obviously, my fellow friends interpreted in a more romanticized way. Never mind. Same story, different versions and all are true”, says Saulo .
Whether he believes it or not, one thing is certain: no one is permitted to touch his harmonica, known as the Elder Harmonica, which was included on the album Wild Horizon. “I used it for the first time in the album, yes.” There were many expectations, but it turned out to be just another thing that will degrade sometime,” Saulo responds. Additionally, in high school he was on the basketball team in high school, turned heads, and tasted like the forbidden fruit. This image of the unpretentious sexy guy has persisted to this day. But his conquests have shown him to be more than just a lovely face. Saulo’s skill is what will ensure his place in history.
That his work in music so far has poetic and philosophical nuances is indisputable. However, now Saulo Oliveira takes a new step in his trajectory by elevating the narrative characteristics of his rising legacy. As it is common for him to be inspired by the greats, when considering his new EP in the Hip-Rock format, he was inspired by Rage Against the Machine and Eminem; there could have not been a better choice.
Saulo Oliveira S. is Renewing Rock N Roll
In “Renewing Rock N Roll”, released on February 4, 2022 – the EP’s flagship – Saulo fires his sentences at a frantic speed, with certainty. Everything is built to hold attention. The rocker spells 1.593 words in six minutes while Eminem spelled 789 words in “Lose Yourself” and 1.539 words in “Rap God”, both 5 and 6 minutes respectively. That’s historic. The Prince of Rock broke a record surpassing Slim Shady. Saulo Oliveira proves not only that he is capable of telling a good story, but he can do it with agility and efficiency. In that sense, RRNR is a remarkable epic.
The saga begins with Mackenzie McNeil, a fictional alter-ego for Saulo, who is in doubt about to be or not to be. Therefore, when it is said that the quality of the EP raises the composer’s level of sophistication. It is because, now, Oliveira debugs his Shakespearean traits. Mackenzie talks with a friend, Nickolas, and vents about the insecurities of his new projects. After all, he loves the seventh art and is also a music aficionado. He receives strong words of encouragement from Nicko who doesn’t expect his friend to give up any of his passions because of difficulties.
Continued…
Once the chorus comes to fruition everything reaches a graceful upheaval point with the Mack character’s conviction that he has the potential to be what he wants to be. The lyrical self mentions the empiricist philosophy of John Locke reaching the summit of self-knowledge in this spasmodic roller coaster of feelings. Mack, just like Oliveira, was born as a blank slate (or a blank sheet because Saulo couldn’t miss the rhyme) to be filled with the events of a life that sounds promising. As in the idea of Tabula Rasa, RRNR is about experience.
The song’s epilogue is preceded by twists and turns. With descriptions of disputes in a courtroom, a flurry of verbs, adjectives, nouns, and pronouns in an overwhelming rhythm. Saulo’s intimacy with words is so mesmerizing that “knits” becomes “stinks” when he goes back in his own sentences and shows that he can have the words at his feet, the alphabet at his disposal. It’s colossal.
In the end (spoiler alert) you will discover that there was no Nickolas. It was only Mack, playing his improvisation to himself in the mirror which, finally, invokes the stitching of the entire plot. Nicko is an alter ego for Mack and Mack is an alter ego for Saulo. He concludes that he is the prince, irrevocably, and so a new stage in the artist’s career is sealed. It’s delicious and rewarding to follow the progression of this hero’s journey. Because those who listen can learn and identify with the insecurities presented in the song. You may finish the song more encouraged, more inspired and determined to conquer your space in life, to do the events that will fill your pages.
His life changing legacy
After this life-changing six minutes you can see that there is no going back. This is one of those things that can be marked as a peculiar experience in the life of those who are listening. One day you will say “I wish I could go back to the feeling of hearing this for the first time”. The feeling of listening to RRNR for the first time is unrepeatable. As it is with “Lose Yourself”, that’s why the replay button is one of the greatest inventions of music, such as Renewing Rock N Roll itself.
The high synaptic voltage that electrifies the brain of Saulo’s prodigiously remarkable conceptions is also the driving force that shapes his circumspect musings. He thinks, inevitably, much faster than he speaks. Before delivering a phrase, it is noticeable that the silence preceding his next sentence is the result of his disciplined enviable self-criticism, in full swing. After going through the sieve of all possibilities and the impact of what will be said is already calculated, only then do the lips open.
And then he’ll say something like: “I have a natural privacy policy about my personal life that exempts me from needing frequent attention, so I don’t show up as much. It probably doesn’t fit with the presumably public profile of those who dedicate themselves to music, but the object of appreciation should be the music itself and not me”.
“I can easily imagine myself, a few years from now…”
Unobtrusive and attentive to the pitfalls of overexposure, the singer prefers the discretion of his seclusion. More than ever he is at peace with himself. “I can easily imagine myself, a few years from now, living on a farm, without much contact with civilization. But necessarily with a white rabbit named Jeff. We’d spend afternoons on end listening to Rock on shuffle and when “White Rabbit” from Jeff Airplane came in I’d say, ‘Hey, you know what, mate? That’s where I got your name from’ and I would live very well in this scenario without many people around me, just drinking tea and tending to my garden. It doesn’t hurt to dream”, says Saulo in a direct telephone call from the pool of the Beverly Hills hotel.
Calm, polite and elegant, he communicates with more ease only if insistently stimulated to do so. Otherwise silence is his first dialect. Two days at his company in Los Angeles allows saying that. “It speaks louder than words”, guarantees the musician about the silence. But it is with words, not quiet, that he achieves his place in history with the sophomore work “Prince of Rock”. Someone have said, as soon as the EP with the four songs came out, that it was as if Saulo had managed to bottle up a lightning bolt. Indeed, there is something urgently sweeping about this work. There’s the first beat and you’re immediately abducted into a peculiar world; a privilege expressible in the senses. Saulo Oliveira S, however, was not always at peace with himself, as is the case at this stage in his life when he thrives on his projects.
His humbling beginnings
Back in 2016, he had problems with prescribed medicine and alcohol abuse. Having overcome the drama of almost belonging to the 27 Club, he was resurrected for the second time by the strength of Rock & Roll. After leaving rehab he began to dedicate himself more to rock music. Then was the spark of his origins revived with the intensity that culminates in the controversial phrase “I am bigger than God”.
Saulo does not hide his disdain for faith. He claims that if he had been God he would have done a much better job. He considers 7 days too long to create something as mediocre as this planet and this universe. Saulo is a heretic; this is clear in his song “That Liar Never Walked on the Water”.
The fact is that he distributes concrete plans for various sectors of knowledge. In particular, it is worth mentioning technology. As he has read a lot on the subject, the model claims that the longevity of the human race is in the hands of Transhumanism. In doing so, he defends the idea of replacing failing organs with organs made of synthetic material with a texture that is superior and more durable than organic material.
He is in favor of the use of embryonic stem cells in several cases. He waits for transportation so he no longer has to drive and believes in tourist space visits to Mars and the moon until the end of the century. At the same time, fears the machine revolution as artificial intelligence has advanced tremendously. Saulo is a futurist; this is clear in his song “Monolith”.
The Saulo Oliveira S. effect
A wizard of letters, Saulo Oliveira S. exudes exuberant virtuosity when playing with words, demonstrating a pornographic intimacy with it almost as obscene as Macneil’s composition. The poet is sharp and precise in his sentences. Saulo is a virile and enraptured heterosexual, a lacerating penetrator; this is clear in his song “Macneil”.
As far as his relationships are concerned, he has nothing to declare. But he has been seen with girls on many occasions. At five foot nine, with hazel eyes, brown skin, straight posture and a well-designed face, he just needs to walk into an environment to attract attention. Any girl who is seen in his company is subject to the interpretation that she is a possible partner, but this is just speculation. As he himself stated, his personal life should be of no more interest than his work or his projects.
In fact, “projects” in the plural, after all, he is not dedicated solely to music. For almost ten years now, Saulo has been dedicated to vegetarianism, that is. He looks with suspicion on deforestation in the Amazon, for example. He is not oblivious to this reality. Not ignoring that the fact of consuming soy does not make him better than others. After all, there is damage to the environment in the same way. In addition to environmentalism in its variety of commitments, there is also atheism. Which is his inescapable characteristic and needs no further details for obvious reasons. Additionally, Saulo is also a lawyer. Throughout his career he has published an acclaimed article by Thomson Reuters campaigning on the defense of the environment.
The conclusion.
In conclusion Saulo Oliveira S. is someone so decidedly committed to his aspirations. To the point of bringing them to the complexion in the exact way he idealized. It is worth following the musician’s trajectory as, at the end of his epic odyssey RRNR. He claims to be just the beginning of many flows that are yet to come. If this is the beginning, then one has to keep the perspective high for the future steps of a guy who has both privileged vision and cunning at the same time for captivating achievements.
As if it were a method for composing such as “the method” for acting, Saulo is an adept. He tells how he started to think like a rapper. As a result, he then isolated himself studying the subject to achieve the stature that RNRR demanded. Isolation is his gift. And there’s more on his wild horizon; he is working on a new song called “Nighthawks” and video clips to be released between 2023 and 2024.
Saulo captivates the covers of magazines
So far, he has been two times the cover of the Rock Life Today Magazine (June edition 2022/ December edition 2022). In fact, the second time around he was granted the title of “Rocker of The Year”. He was also the cover of the Hollywood Gossip’s “Musicians on Musician” in December 2022. Maintaining momentum, he was recently the cover of “Avec Élégance Magazine”, (March 2023).
After a while in his company, you might think he’s just another interesting and smart guy like most in the industry. For this very reason, perhaps, unconsciously, he avoids very lengthy public interactions so much. The possibility of thinking that he is just another one in the crowd can be a danger. He needs to be bigger than usual. Here is his challenge and also his thorn in the flesh. It is not a wrong strategy; after all, these times demand boldness and intrepidity. And Saulo is the definition of intrepidity.
What’s next?
At the end of the day, the sense of a chosen deity and the mystified versions of his path matters much more than the image of a regular guy. The world is already full of regular cute and charismatic boys. Let the times allow him to be the next golden god of Rock. The royalty of an irreverent sound with the timbre of thunder fulminating the skies like lightning. Prince of rock: finally the position is occupied. Saulo Oliveira S. is the Prince of Rock and the Prince of Rock is Saulo Oliveira S.
What does he believe? In chance of dice. “Roll the Dice”, one of his favorite poems. A mirror reflecting his tenacity. He imagines that his willpower is what can get him the furthest. Especially when everything is haphazard in the absence of a greater power. But even a dice can be biased. He may go on denying it, but he is the chosen one. The dice of his trajectory have been rolled loaded so that the result is the best number and he gets the upper hand. Saulo is something else and arrived at the right time.
Asked about the arduous struggle and fight in order to conquer his space, the rocker returns with his view on fighting. He bases it on Bukowski: “I must ride life straight to perfect laughter, it’s the only good fight there is”. For now, get familiar with the trailblazing talent by pressing play on “Renewing Rock N Roll”. Lastly, let us know what you think here at 24Hip-Hop!