West Coast Connection Forum
DUBCC - Tha Connection => Outbound Connection => Topic started by: wcsoldier on August 11, 2005, 02:59:28 AM
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Saigon: Not Just Another Rapper
By Darin Gloe
If you looking for a buzz in the street, look no further than Saigon. Just Blaze latest protégé inked a deal with Atlantic after several successful mixtapes and has not one, but two albums in the works. Even though he has only been signed for 8 short months, he has been making major waves in the industry. Saigon is much more than just a rapper, and you're about to see why...
What up man, you have been real busy as of late....what's been cracking?
Yeah, man I'm chillin. I have been doing a little Hollywood thing and finishing my album. You know the album that coming out is "Greatest Story Never Told" and I'm working on my second album, "Moral of the Story" just trying to get a lot of work done. Just Blaze is producing 85% of the record and he is executive producing the album. I have the dream squad over here, hip-hop since 1978. We bringing it, plus I have a recurring role on the HBO show "Entourage".
You have some major buzz right now, did you expect this?
Not really, I have been doing the same kind of music from jump. I know if I would have changed and started doing the happy go lucky bubble gum rap, I could have gotten a buzz like this. By doing what I do and how I do it, I had no idea it would have ever gotten to this point. I had no idea a producer of Just Blaze statue would want to come in and be down with this project. My music is straight hip-hop, we could do anything but we are focusing on making good hip-hop music.
You have been pushing units independently for a while now, why did you decide to sign to a major label, why not just stay independent?
Staying independent will only take you to a certain level. You can get a big regional buzz independently; you can even get a good amount of radio play. Unless you sign to a huge indie like TVT or some kind of major you're not going to be able to get your music heard in certain places. Unless you have a gang of money, which I didn't have at the time you aren't going to get heard like you should. I would have stayed independent if I would have had the funds to that.
Just Blaze is producing the majority of your project and you on his imprint how did you guys meet up?
There was this mixtape DJ named Sickamore. Just (Blaze) was looking for who was the hottest in the streets and was willing to get down and work real hard. So we met up and the first day we met we knocked out some songs. "Letter P", was the first joint we did and people really liked the record. Every since then we have been working together; we have been putting out strengths together and our minds and try to make something work. So far we have been flowing...
Also, it has been said you are good friends with Mark Ronson, how did you guys meet and will he be handling any production on the LP?
Yeah Mark and I have been talking about doing some things. When first got out, Mark was my first contact in the music industry. When I got out I was still running around acting like a knucklehead, he got me lawyers and such. If it wasn't for Mark I wouldn't even be in the industry, I would be in prison. He is a powerful man and he has got me out of a lot of jams. He got me and he is a dope producer, I owe him a lot. He produced a record a while back and I want him to redo that and it might make the record, you will probably see him on the album.
Does Just do the scratches on your records or do you have another DJ?
Just only scratched on "Letter P". No one has actually heard me and Just together yet, we have some phenomenal records together. They have heard "Letter P" but that was just a buzz record, we have some powerful powerful records coming.
Most people know you have been signed to Atlantic through Ft Knox Ent for a while now. The name of the album is "Greatest Story Never Told", let us in on what the title means aside from the obvious.
I've only been signed to Atlantic for 8 months, a lot of people think I have been signed a lot longer, but I just signed in Dec of '04. I hear what a lot of artists are coming with right now. Everybody is talking about the pain and the ghetto and all the shit, but no one is really talking about the solutions to these problems. We know there are guns, we know there is crack and gangs and all that. What are we doing to prevent this and turn things around? If you are going to talk about a problem, you should offer a solution, even a suggestion. Nobody is coming with anything right now, so that's why it's the "Greatest Story Never Told", I'm coming with solutions and suggestions on how to combat these problems. My album is formatted just like a storybook; you have an epilogue, chapters, a forward and all that. I'm bringing it for real.
The new single "Come Again" also contains the b-side featuring Kool G Rap. A lot of emcees are saying he is the best that ever lived... what's your take after working with him?
I have to agree with that, I think overall and all around Kool G Rap is the greatest rapper to ever live. I prove to people when I tell them to go back and do their homework. Biggie got his style from G Rap, Big Pun to Nas to Jay-Z, we were all influenced by Kool G Rap. Even Rakim and Big Daddy Kane who were a little before G Rap, they were still influenced by Kool G Rap. I mean these aren't just the best hip-hop artists of our time, these are the best ever. We all have to pay homage to Kool G Rap. G Rap is like Dr J. of Rap, Jordan got all the accolades but he learned a lot from Dr J.
It has been well publicized about who you have been working with as far as producers, but the guest shots have been kept under wraps. Care to shed some light on who will be lacing 16 bars on the upcoming LP?
Honestly, you know how things go with people shouting out names and such, so I'm not really going to say anything. I mean, Blaze is a powerful man and can call in a lot of favors. Don't get me wrong there are some surprises, but I don't want to go out on a limb and let the cat out of the bag. A lot of artists want to work with me, they see the grind and I'm trying to keep hip-hop fresh. You know I'm trying to keep hip-hop, hip-hop. When things get saturated with too many entities hip-hop seems to lose its identity, sort of like religion.
With that said, is there anybody that you would like to work with, artist wise?
Honestly, I already worked with G Rap and that was a great honor. I mean I have kicked it with Nas and Jay and those 3 are really the main ones. I would like to get Mary J on the album. Actually I will give one up, Dead Prez is on the album...
You have made a significant change in your life, from being behind bars to doing a complete 360 and starting the Abandoned Nation Foundation, tell us about the organization.
Abandoned Nation is a non-profit project that we started to let kids know that there are still people who care and people trying to make a difference. The organization teaches literacy and tries to keep the family structure even though the parent is incarcerated. That is one thing that prison does, it tears down the family structure. When you take a parent out of a household it is devastating to the kids. You might not see it, but it really changes the child's morals and ethics. You see a child that grows up with both parents; they end up with totally different morals and beliefs than those kids with one parent or no parents. I think that is one of the things that artists don't speak on anymore, if you are willing to make a baby, you need to be around in 9 months and take care of that child.
You seem like you are a very positive role model for not just hip-hop but in life, where do you see yourself in 5 years?
If the government will let me live that long, hopefully I will be able to touch people and have a family of my own. When you touch people with your words, the government will eradicate you make you disappear, so I'm just trying to live and make good hip-hop music for people to enjoy. We can't just party and bullshit all day long, and thinking that things are going to change. An old-timer told me one time that "insanity is when you keep doing the same things and expect to see different results". So if I keep doing what others do and expect things to change, I'm crazy, you know…Shout out to everybody that supports hip-hop and there is no right way to do something wrong...
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My favorite mc,& this is off mixtapes alone...Good to see him helping kids wit one or no parents at all.
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yea thats deep that he helpin out the communitity and all, dont see that too much nowadays...
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Yep it's cool what he does for the children. Plus I think 80% of the current rap game mcs need to read this sentence:" We can't just party and bullshit all day long, and thinking that things are going to change"
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can't wait, dude would really deserve to blow the fuck up