Biography

1977-2000: Early life & prison stint

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Saigon spent his upbringing in Rockland County. At age 11 he began selling marijuana and at age 13 he had joined a neighborhood gang. By the time Saigon was 15 he had been charged with two counts of attempted murder, landing him a 7-year prison sentence. Saigon developed his rhyming skill while in prison. He took the stage name Saigon from the influential Vietnam War book "Bloods" by Wallace Terry. After his prison release in 2000, he established the company Abandoned Nation, which was partly a nonprofit foundation that provided support for the children of incarcerated parents, but it also helped him and associated artists to pursue their music careers.

2001-2006: Rise to fame, Entourage & stabbing

After Saigon was released from prison he started to appear on mixtapes and make contacts inside the music industry. His first important musical contact was DJ/producer Mark Ronson, who gave him studio time and access to other valuable contacts. The rapper later left Ronson's company, on good terms, in order to explore better options. In 2002, Saigon released his first mixtape Da Yard Father 1 - The Best of Saigon, which XXL ranked 14 on their top 20 artist-driven mixtapes list. Saigon quickly gained popularity in the underground circuit and on the internet. Saigon continued to release mixtapes until signing to Just Blaze’s Fort Knox Entertainment in 2004. Saigon was listed in tons of "Artists to Watch" columns (including in Time magazine) and graced the covers of many hip-hop publications throughout the early to mid-2000s.

In 2005, Sai landed a recurring role in the popular HBO show, Entourage. Tha Yardfather appeared as himself in the second and third seasons of the show. Entourage is credited as being a big boost to his career, making him more recognizable to the mainstream U.S. population.

On the night of January 17, 2006, Saigon was stabbed in the temple with a beer bottle as he left a diner in the Chelsea section of New York. A man approached Saigon and attempted to steal a chain of his, worth $18,000. When Saigon grabbed it back, a fight started. Saigon, bleeding from the head, tried to hail down a taxi (fearing that he would cause harm to someone) but was unable to and drove himself to Bellevue Hospital where he received seven stitches.

2007

Prodigy, Moral of the Story & album with Tru-Life

On the night of September 18, 2007, Saigon was involved in a fight with Mobb Deep rapper Prodigy at Havoc's album release party. After Saigon was pushed by a security guard, a minor struggle arose. After a few words were exchanged, Saigon punched Prodigy in the head. Saigon and his bodyguard then escaped from the club.

The Moral of the Story is Saigon's street album, which consists of new original material and songs that were cut from The Greatest Story Never Told. This album was released to create hype for his debut album and to hold fans over until his major label debut was released. Despite the mixtape not having his best material, Saigon says that it's better than most rappers studio albums. The album was released on November 13, 2007. On the album, Saigon criticizes the many ringtone rappers.

On November 17, 2007 Saigon and fellow New York rapper Tru-Life. Announced they would be recording a collaborative album. Speaking on the album Saigon stated:

Saigon and Tru-Life have reportedly recorded about six songs for the album.

The Greatest Story Never Told, arrest & the "I QUIT" blog

The Greatest Story Never Told is Saigon's highly anticipated debut album set to be released on Just Blaze's Fort Knocks Entertainment. Originally scheduled for a 2005 release but was constantly delayed. On June 1, 2007, Saigon posted a blog on his Myspace stating that he felt Atlantic Records didn't have the desire to release his album because he is a real artist, not a "jingle writer", and they only care about the money, not the music. He stated that the album will be released independently if Atlantic will not release it. Saigon later took down that blog because he thought it offended Just Blaze. On June 14, 2007, Just Blaze responded to Saigon's comments on his own blog. He stated that he was not offended by the blog but just didn't understand why Saigon would post it now when the only thing holding up the album release is a sample clearance for the single "C'mon Baby" which Craig Kallman—president of Atlantic—was personally handling.. Saigon then posted an apology and announced he signed a deal with Violator Management. Just Blaze later posted that all samples had been cleared.The Greatest Story Never Told is now set to be released early 2008.

On August 22, Saigon was arrested in Manhattan on felony knife-possession charges. According to the New York Post, a "gravity knife" was found by authorities is Saigon's car after he was pulled over on 11th Avenue and West 29th street for a traffic infraction. Saigon was released on $1500 bail, and appeared in court on December 5, 2007.

On November 19, 2007 Saigon posted a blog on his myspace entitled "I QUIT" stating he was quiting the music industry because of how the media spins what he says in interviews and how they don't care about his real message. Saigon said in his blog:

Later in the day Saigon gave a statement to HipHopGame.com confirming what he said in his myspace blog. He told HHG that he was going to focus more on his nonprofit organization In Arms Reach and Abandoned Nation. An organization that helps New York City kids whose parents are incarcerated.

On December 19 Saigon posted another blog, entitled "It Feels Good....,", stating that he had decided not to retire. In his blog Saigon said:

Discography

Albums

• 2007: The Moral of the Story
• 2008: The Greatest Story Never Told
• TBA: Untitled album with Tru-Life

Mixtapes

• Da Yard Father 1 - The Best of Saigon
• The Abandoned Tracks Volume 1
• The Abandoned Tracks Volume 2
• Warning Shots
• Abandoned Nation
• Da Yard Father 2 - On the Go Back
• Welcome to Saigon
• The Return Of The Yardfather
• Belly of The Beast (The Scram Jones Files)

Filmography