Much like his Queen’s bred counterpart 50 Cent,
Brooklyn born and Rockland County representative Saigon has seen a lot in his
20 some odd years on earth.
From spending a good portion of his life in the
streets, to spending time in the penile system only to take that aggression
to the streets and pour it into hip-hop, Saigon’s name is a fitting moniker.
In contrast to the once war torn streets of the city which bears the same name,
Saigon wants to take his war to the music industry. Lyrically, fans will be
pleased. Suckers better vest up and hope his verbal ammunition isn’t aimed at
your head.
AllHipHop.com: Tell everybody your name and where
your from?
Siagon: My name is Saigon the yard father 9680549
I’m from Moose knuckle. I’m originally from Brooklyn but I grew up
upstate in Rockland County.
AllHipHop.com: Why do they call you the Yard
Father?
S: That’s a nickname I got in prison. I
got it actually from this old man who used to play chess all the time, he used
to be in the yard playing chess all day and I used to play chess with him all
the time. They always used to be like why you hanging with the Yard Father and
they used to make jokes about it but I just took it upon myself to use it when
I came home.
AllHipHop.com: What does it mean, running the
yard or something?
S: Yeah fo’ sho running the yard. A lot
of people think it’s some Jamaican sh*t but nah, it’s the prison yard.
AllHipHop.com: Talk about your current label
situation?
S: I just signed with DJ Mark Ronson he just
started a label named Allido Records, it’s all I do in one word. It’s
about to jump off real big ‘cause I got super support. Sylvia Rhone had
me hemmed up the other day like “I love you” so it’s going to
jump off real big.
AllHipHop.com: So what made you go with them?
S: I chose Mark because when I was on the grind
doing the mixtape thing, when I first came out actually this kid introduced
me to Mark. He was busy doing his thing producing records so I started hitting
the street with my sh*t, the whole 50 cent route. So he got his self situated
and at first it was moving slow and I caught another case. This is one of the
real reasons I signed with Mark, I was out on parole and I caught an Assault
in the 2nd and that’s like a felony so I was supposed to be out of here
and he dropped like 10 grand on a lawyer for me out of the kindness of his heart.
He got me a high priced lawyer and you know money talks, bullsh*t float on water
in America. I didn’t beat the case yet ‘cause I’m going to court
for it but that kept me out on the street. I hadn’t even seen him in 6
months. I just called him on some desperate sh*t like I’m in a jam and
he just mailed my lawyer a check. He didn’t have to do that, we was planning
on f*cking around on a music level but we became personal friends.
AllHipHop.com: Is the album done yet?
S: Nah, the albums not done yet. I got about
50 new songs I did. I think when the album comes out I’m going to have
so much material that I could drop a triple or double if I wanted to. I can’t
really say I got what I know is my album right now.
AllHipHop.com: Let’s talk about how you
got to where you are right now, I know you did the mixtape grind can you speak
on that a little bit?
S: I came home on some ‘I’m going to strong
arm my way through this sh*t’ ‘cause I felt it was either this or go back
to the ‘ville or upstate and be on the street grindin’. So I figured
If I’m going to strong arm ‘cause that was my thing since I was a
stick up kid- I used to shoot motherf*ckers and all that- I’m going to
try my hand at this music sh*t and try to strong arm these dudes ‘cause
I know they got a lot to live for. Don’t nobody want to be watching they
back like that so I came home on that tip. It got me places but it aint get
me nowhere that fast, like with Kay Slay who did my first tape. I was doing
mix tapes here and there but it seemed like I was under the radar. I came to
Kay humble and the next thing you know me and Kay got drama. Like when I see
this n*gga it’s on and he saying the same thing about me. I’m calling
him ‘like you b*tch and he calling me like n*gga bring it.’ Eventually we squashed
it and we start working together. He was like I like your energy, your style
so let’s do this tape. We did the tape and he looked out extremely. Whoo
Kid looked out and it was the same with Whoo Kid. He was like who the f*ck you
think you talking to? I’m like n*gga look I will chase you down in the
street, you going to play my record. I feel like you don’t have nothing
to lose ‘cause you can make or break me but you playing my record is not
going to break you but you can help me out a lot. By you telling me that you
aint going to play my record I don’t care if you like it or not, that’s
like saying f*ck you I don’t care about your sh*t.
AllHipHop.com: Your not worried about pissing
anybody off?
S: I look at it as this is my hustle. When n*ggas
be out in the street selling drugs you have to worry about stepping on toes,
as well you can’t please everybody. I’m not going out looking for
trouble but this is America. All motherf*ckers respect is violence or even the
threat of violence. The thing about threats is that you can’t keep threatening
somebody without doing something so I don’t like to make threats.
AllHipHop.com: So talk about your past a little
bit. First of all, Moose Knuckle what’s up with that?
S: Moose Knuckle is this little hood in Rockland
County where I grew up. I moved up there with my grandmother, it’s like
a little ass ghetto. It’s Spring Valley, you never been up there?
AllHipHop.com: I heard of it.
S: It’s the same town. I just wasn’t
feeling that name too tough, I’m like f*ck it I’m going to flip it
and give it a new name ‘cause one thing I respect about n*ggas out there
is that they still like to fight. They not with all that sh*t jump off and the
first thing somebody go get their gun, I kind of like brought that sh*t out
there. These n*ggas like pluckin’ and I respect that ‘cause if a n*gga
bang you out at least you can see the n*gga again, but every now and then some
knuckle head go get a gun.
AllHipHop.com: How long was your jail term?
S: I did 2 bids. I did 2 years and then I came
out and did 5 years but I was only home for 3 weeks so it was like I never really
came home. It was like I was visiting and went right back.
AllHipHop.com: So can you tell your age?
S: Yeah, I’m 24. I started rhyming in prison
‘cause in jail everybody rap. You see a n*gga that’s been in there
since the 70’s and he like ‘To the Hip Hop the Be Bop’ he got his own sh*t
but he still doing it. It’s ill because you can tell when a n*gga came
in by the way they dress and by their hair style, it’s n*ggas still in
there with high tops today ‘cause they came in that era and they never
really seen the times change. They see it on T.V. but it’s not reality
for them so they stuck in that time frame. I started rhyming ‘cause I did
the work out thing and I used to see n*ggas in the yard battling so I was like
f*ck it I’m going to write my little raps and I got good at the sh*t quick.
When I was 2 years from coming home I was like I’m going to be a rapper
and I started a little crew called Abandon Nation. We all got tattoos. I always
tell people if I put the gun on a n*gga again I look at my tat and put it away.
So I started rapping in jail battling n*ggas and I was like f*ck it, it’s
a plan for me when I come home.
AllHipHop.com: I was looking on the message board
and it said Saigon the real future of Hip Hop. What do you think about those
types of expectations?
S: I think people see me like that because I
bring a little bit of the political sh*t back, Nas is doing it and I love him.
I think Nas is the best rapper in History even though sometimes he f*cks up.
He knew how to walk that thin line to to get those ignorant n*ggas to listen
to him. If he didn’t know how to walk the line he would have been overlooked
his whole career. He had to do the "Oochy Wally’s" and the "Hate
Me Now’s" to get motherf*ckers to listen. I’m talking to a 13
year old girl the other day and that "I Know I Can" sh*t come on and
she said that’s their graduation song and I’m like that’s dope
right there. I don’t promote violence but I let you know I been through
it, I shot n*ggas, caught bodies, I did all that sh*t and I paid for it. That’s
not nothing you really want to glorify ‘cause the kids is listening to
the sh*t and we have no leaders, the only leaders we have now is rappers. If
you know you’re the voice of your whole community you got to give them
something good you can’t just give them all poison. I mean I feel you,
make your money but at the same time give n*ggas something back, they listening
to you now. 50 cent got every little kid in the hood wanting to be a thug and
wanting to bang out. We had this conversation one day and he actually told me
in my face that the difference between you and me is that you that n*gga that’s
going to tell shorty nah, don’t do that and I’m going to throw the
battery in shorty back like shorty hit that n*gga.
AllHipHop.com: There was a rumor that it was
beef between y’all, you had dissed him on a mix tape is that true?
S: I strategize everything I do, last I known
me and 50 is cool. I’ve been hearing that same sh*t too so I don’t
know where he’s at ‘cause he hasn’t been answering my 2ways now
but if it was something serious Sha Money would tell me ‘cause I f*ck with
Sha. I know it’s no situation where we going to get it poppin.
AllHipHop.com: That’s the only thing people
really talk about when it comes to 50, he got shot and those types of issues.
S: Pac and Big when they died they left big voids,
no disrespect to Pun but without Big I couldn’t see a Pun. I could see
him coming out and being dope but I couldn’t see him getting to that level
that he got to especially with his size and all that. Big made it cool to be
a big fat motherf*cker even though it was fat n*ggas before him. When Big came
out he epitomized the fat n*gga, like being fat is the sh*t. Fat n*ggas was
in the club like ‘what?’ With PAC that whole bad boy thing, getting shot, everything
50 said PAC said already. “5 shots couldn’t drop me I took it and
smiled” and 50 come with “ I got shot up but I got up.” People
really sublimely think something is going to happen to 50 that’s why they
on the edge of their seats waiting for it to happen. I can’t see 50 going
another 5 or 6 years at this level without nothing happening.
AllHipHop.com: It seems like the requirement
to get in the game is you have to had been on the block or went to jail.
S: That’s f*cked up but that’s where
Hip Hop is at right now and I’m trying to change it because I don’t
think n*ggas realize the seriousness of what they do when they do that. Like
I said before this is a youth thing and if children are the future like motherf*ckers
say then where do you see your future going to if this is all you’re teaching
these motherf*ckers? When I was coming over here on the train I seen some sh*t
that said ‘Bloods suck Crips Rule.’ I’m looking at this like these little
n*ggas is going crazy with this dumb sh*t. A Blood and Crip now they don’t
really have nothing and the ghetto n*ggas don’t got nothing so if you going
to take something away from somebody you have to have something to replace it
with. If you tell n*ggas don’t go out here and Gang Bang and that’s
it, then they are going to go Gang Bang. If you tell them ‘don’t do this
come over here and do this then you got a better chance of getting them out
of that sh*t.’ Now you got to be a tough motherf*cker. You got to go through
something, you got to get on the news and that sh*t is stupid.
AllHipHop.com: You ever think people do that
on purpose?
S: Yeah, of course. A real gangsta is not going
to get on record and say I’m a gangsta. You look at John Forte. He never
said nothing about selling no coke on none of his records but he get caught
with 30 pounds. Then you look at Jadakiss who get on record and say ‘I got to
use the coke scale’ and then he get on a interview and be like ‘I got mad weed
in the hood, I got 2 weed spots.’ It’s a misdemeanor. That’s the new
hustle. If you learn from sh*t, when John Gotti started getting on the cover
of Newsweek all this Dapper Don and Untouchable sh*t, that’s when they
took his ass down. That’s the way these white motherf*cker market Hip Hop.
Their not going to market a motherf*cker coming in there like Dead Prez trying
to uplift the people, their not going to put all that money behind that. That
"Lets Get Free" album was one of the best albums of the time and that
sh*t sat on the shelf and I was sad to see that.
AllHipHop.com: I always felt like a record deal
is like the most legally way of raping somebody. How do you feel about that
being a new artist?
S: That’s why I signed with somebody I trust.
All the people that wanted to sign me I went with somebody that I trust and
that I know regardless of the business sh*t got my best interest in heart ‘cause
this n*gga kept me out the penile. He proved that before it had to even be proved,
even if my album comes out and don’t do astronomical numbers I know that
I’m going to be treated fairly by Mark and the power that Mark got. Mark
is a powerful motherf*cker The streets don’t know who he is ‘cause
he’s like a celebrity down town type dude but they going to know in a minute.
If he call the label he want the President, he want the CEO, no A&R can
talk to Mark. If you just a A&R you wasting your time.
AllHipHop.com: Can you talk about your relationship
with the Source?
S: XXL is sh*tting on me. They don’t want
to run a story on me ‘cause I f*ck with n*ggas at The Source. I f*ck with
them through my music, Shay Johnson and Gotti. Them n*ggas heard me right after
I caught that case I had a little demo that I made and I brought it up there
trying to get unsigned hype. That’s like part of an emcee’s ritual
back in the day everybody wanted to get a unsigned hype before they got a deal,
so I got in unsigned hype and I used to go up there and hang around the office
kickin’ it to the girls and all that and I just got cool with motherf*ckers.
Shay does the ads over there he’s on the business tip, you got the editorial
side and the business side he’s on the money side and he has nothing to
do with that over there. I go over there on some fair is fair sh*t play this
and play my sh*t, now who sh*t is better and y’all tell me I don’t
deserve a story in the motherf*cker. That’s how I got everything I got
in The Source. It aint no I’m friends with Benzino, I see him and wutup
and we go on that’s it. I go in there like the proof is in the pudding,
it’s like dope here sniff that and if you nod out then put me in the book.
Now XXL is like I’m affiliated with the Source so they hesitant on giving
me shine. Why motherf*ckers got to have some conflict with each other? Like
the radio stations now the Source got beef with XXL, it’s enough money
for everybody to eat.
AllHipHop.com: The whole thing about you dissin’
G-unit was they was saying he’s down with the source that’s why he’s
dissin G- Unit.
S: I didn’t diss them, n*ggas don’t
listen they just see sh*t and run with it. I never dissed G- Unit. Tony Yayo
is my n*gga , me and 50 we clicked, Sha and all those n*ggas are good dudes.
It’s the politics of the sh*t ‘cause now they sayin 50 cant be in
the Source now and I never seen XXL do anything on Benzino. XXL is on the come
up. They like f*ck it we are about to be the next n*ggas in the game and they
got Em and Jimmy Iovine’s support. I don’t give a f*ck about any one of
y’all I want to be with whoever is poppin’, it’s nothing personal
it’s business. I’m not taking no sides. If you what’s hot then
let me f*ck with you. This is music, y’all don’t do nothing but write
a story. It get f*cked when somebody takes it personal ‘cause then you’ll
discredit somebody’s sh*t. The n*gga can have the hottest sh*t on the block
and your going to try to down play his sh*t ‘cause you got personal drama
with him, that’s when it becomes not fun anymore. It’s not where you
from it’s what you was doing. Did you make BK what it is? The real 50 Cent
f*cked with the n*ggas I used to f*ck with back in the 80’s before he got
killed. Them n*ggas made BK what it is it wasn’t Fabolous. You want to
scream BK but you aint make it what it is so you basically playing yourself.
It’s gay n*ggas in Brooklyn, I seen the gay rapper out there like BK I’m
like that’s not a good look.
