On his blog, Saigon drops a bomb – he has departed his longterm recording home of Atlantic Records. Read the saga from the man, who has had a rough path in the music game despite being one of Hip-Hop faves. (This editorial has not been edited by AllHipHop.com in any way.)Saigon:Okay, where do I begin….
Once upon a time, I remember telling my homie Just Blaze that the ONLY
way we would win was if we were to get off of Atlantic Records
A.S.A.P… Most of you may not know but I have fought and fought and
fought for the past year and a half to get out of that bad deal..I
personally E mailed Julie Greenwald and Craig Kallman (C.E.O and
President) and begged for a release from my contract numerous times.. I
know some of you may or may not remember but I even went as far as
saying ‘I quit’ or ‘Im retiring’ to get out of there. I figured if I
said ‘I quit’, they would say ‘well if he’s not rapping anymore, we
should let him go’ but nope…They held me.. I even went and aqcuired
the powerful services of Chris Lighty and Violator Management to help
me get out of there but nope, they held me.. I was about to write the
word SLAVE on my cheek like Prince or go CNN style and go flip over
some computers or something… LOL
I was signed to Atlantic Records by Kyambo ‘Hip Hop’ Joshua. Hip Hop is
one of the most creative and innovative people in this music
business..He was the A&R on every Jay Z album from Reasonable Doubt
to The Black Album so he knows and understands a real TRUE talent…
But 4 months after signing me to Atlantic Records, Hip Hop quit and
left the label because he didnt like the way they wouldnt let the real
artist be themselves. They even passed on signing the legendary Devin
The Dude because he wasnt ‘young enough’…Wow.. When Hip Hop left I
knew I was in trouble…BIG trouble…
Strike 1
I put out 2 songs on Atlantic Records, the first one was called ‘Pain
in my Life’ feat Trey Songz. This song recieved GREAT reviews, massive
press and was to set the tone as to who I am and the type of artist I
am.. Atlantic Records felt I needed a party song, or a sexual song or
something like the other artist they have up there. On one side of the
token they’re telling me they need to market me to the youth yet they
want me to use adult content.. This didnt make sense to me. They wanted
me to tell 12 and 13 year old kids that its cool to be strippers and
gangbangers. I felt if they were going to market me to the young kids
in the urban communities, I should be giving them something thats gonna
be more beneficial than detrimental to their lives, like the importance
of eduacation, safe sex, will power and s### like that. I live in these
communities so I see the power and the effects this music has on our
children.. We disagreed and I guess their way of
saying f### me was, they NEVER worked the record at radio.. They NEVER
put me on a promo tour to work the record, and they gave me a measley
18 thousand dollars to shoot the video which was kinda insulting to
me…
Strike 2
Okay, no love and support on Pain in my Life and at this point Im very
discouraged because the record was doing very well on its own. Yet they
would not support it.. Im on a hit television show Entourage on H.B.O,
magazine covers, everything.. Yet still no support from the label. Okay
we say ‘lets try it again’… We give them ‘Come on Baby’ feat Swizz
Beatz. Once again the song recieves great reviews, classic Just Blaze
material. And once again, NO radio staff is working it, NO promo tours,
not even a f##### poster or an online banner.. NOTHING.. When it came
time to do the video, they gave me 28K.. LOL… 10K more than the
measley 18K they gave me for Pain in my Life.. Thats 2 videos for under
50K and this is supposed to break a new artist??? For those of you who
dont know the business, the average cost for a decent video is between
100K and 150K for a new artist youre trying to break. Thats ONE video
mind you.. They gave me less than 50K for 2 videos.
They never worked either of the 2 songs at radio.. They never even
made a Saigon poster…Lol… If you go up to the Atlantic offices
their are pictures on the wall of artist you NEVER, EVER, EVER heard
of in ya life.. and probably never will. I knew for a long time I was
at the wrong place.. I like to tell myself that the money they were
supposed to spend on my project just went to T.I’s legal team and court
fees…Then I feel they did something good with the money..Haha
Strike 3
Okay so now they s### on us again with ‘Come on Baby’, Im crying to
leave the label but they wont let me go.. They wont push me, but they
wont let me go.. So Just Blaze says ‘okay, lets pull out the big
guns’…. He gets the big homie Jay Z on the remix of Come on Baby (see
page to listen) and can you believe these muthafuckas stiiiiiiiiiiiilll
didnt work the record or give us what we needed to work the record…
Here you have an new artist as handsome as me,(haha) as talented as me,
on a hit television show, XXL and many other covers, mega buzz in the
street and online, AND a song with Jay Z and Swizz Beatz you
stiiiiillll dont push the button… There was nothing more I could do
but take legal action to leave there..At first I was discouraged about
the whole thing but then I started to think about T.I. on Arista
Records, Lupe Fiasco on Arista Records, Alicia Keys on Columbia
Records, 50 Cent on Columbia Records, DMX on Columbia Records. These
are just a few of the superstars that werent on the same page as their first
record company. And me on Atlantic, I refused to let them put out my
album with no marketing dollars behind it.. My album is a masterpiece
that will go on to make history.. I refused to let it be mishandled by
some people who only care about a dollar when my music is about so much
more than just financial gain…Once people realize money doesnt equal
happiness the world will be a better place..I know alot of rich
miserable people, rappers, actors or just plain businessmen that are
hooked on drugs and s### because theyre trying to escape reality. The
money dont mean s###…Lets talk about THAT..
Now to bring you all up to date…I am NO LONGER ON ATLANTIC RECORDS,
thank you God. I took legal action and got my manager Chris, my lawyer
Theo, my homies Gee Roberson and Just Blaze and we got the f### up out
of there… No, I didnt get dropped so you haters dont get excited, I
fought these people very very hard to leave. When they drop you they
keep your music and you dont have to pay them s### back.. Trust me, I
tried to get dropped. I still own my masters so we have to give these
bastards a whole LOT of money , BUT, we still own The Greatest Story
Never Told which will be released this year with a company that Im sure
will surprise the whole world once we let it out.. Nobody is gonna see
this coming..TRUST ME. Im still rocking with Just Blaze till the dirt,
Im still with Hip Hop Since 1978 till the dirt, we killed them with
Kanye West, now we bout to kill em with Lil Wayne and Saigon comes soon
after to play clean up…..Goodbye Atlantic Records, I
dont know if it was systematic racism or the fact they didnt think
they could break an artist with validity in his music who cares about
the future of black children, but I guess we’ll never know will
we…………………???????????? So now you know why Ive been quiet the past year.. Ive been in battle with these people, and I WON.
Now check out my single Gotta Believe It…The one explaining my new
beginning…..Peace.. Im off to China for Memorial Day weekend…Wow.
Later Yall
