Saigon Interview BET.com

Saigon learned firsthand about Q-Tip’s now infamous Industry Rule 4,080—“record company people are shady.” After building a strong buzz on the streets and the Web, Saigon found his Atlantic Records debut, The Greatest Story Ever Told caught up in the quicksand that is record label politics.

After securing a release from Atlantic, Saigon found a new recording home with Amalgam Digital, which dropped his latest effort, “All In A Day’s Work” with producer Statik Selektah. Saigon says the album name literally describes the process of the album’s creation.
“We did a song, and that turned into another song and then three songs and he didn’t want to stop,” Saigon tells BET.com. “We got to five and he didn’t want to stop. We got to eight and he said ‘two more and that’s an album.’ We just did it and I said we’re going to call it ‘All In A Day’s Work.’”

The enthusiasm in Saigon’s voice when talking about the project is a throwback to the days when artists made music without a concern for first week sales, radio plays, and ringtones.
“Everything was magic,” he adds. “It was one of those things… [Statik] wants to do it again, but I don’t think we’ll be able to pull it off with the same chemistry and energy. Nobody was caring about money; we were just trying to make the best music we could make. There was no pressure.”

“All In A Day’s Work” has been hailed by critics as a great album—which is a double edge sword for both Saigon and Statik Selektah. With their first effort considered by many to be a home run, is there pressure for the two to make lightening strike twice?
“Hell yeah” Saigon answers. “The bar is set pretty high. I’m looking at the reviews and people are calling it a street classic. Anything less than that would be a failure.”

Saigon also explained to BET.com what the breaking point with his former label Atlantic was.
“They wanted me to do a record with Pretty Ricky,” he says. “They were serious. One of the execs told me, ‘Saigon, it would be a good thing if you went in with Pretty Ricky. You guys could do something great.’ Saigon and Pretty Ricky? That doesn’t even make sense.”

In addition to another project with Statik Selektah, Saigon is also preparing “Warning Shots 2” the follow up to the album that made him an emcee to watch in the eyes of many. Though Saigon is often known for his serious demeanor, he devotes some album time to a lighter side of life, namely relations between the sexes.

“I’ve got a song about all the crazy shit that men do or have done to try to get some,” he says. “It’s based on personal experience and things that I’ve seen. I know guys that have done some extreme things to get with a girl. It’s a fun song and not to be taken serious. I like the way it came out.”

While some new songs find Saigon letting his guard down, his tone changes when discussing the state of hip hop. Speaking as a man who actually served time in prison, Saigon is annoyed at rappers who glorify the violent lifestyle that he really lived.

“It’s stupid,” he says, regarding the act that many rappers put on. “Real gangsters don’t do that. Tough guys don’t want you to know they’re tough. Everybody’s talking about street cred. Number one, when you’re out in the streets, you’re not thinking about street cred. It’s not something you sit around and glorify.”

He adds that while many in the game espouse a “stop snitchin’” ethos, they actually end up snitching on themselves at the end of the day. “When gang members go to jail, they get caught up in the RICO laws [and they’re surprised]. What’d you think? You’re running around with gang tattoos and a red bandana on your body. With organized crime, if they got pulled over, [they’d tell the police] ‘We’re not in the mob, what are you talking about?’ They didn’t walk around with signs that said ‘Gambino Family.’”