If you've been watching HBO's Entourage the last few seasons, you are probably aware of Saigon, the young, aggressive rapper who plays himself on the show and briefly became the first client that Turtle represented in the hip hop community (before Sai's old crew hung Drama out of a window ala Suge Knight and determined that it was in the rapper's best interests if Turtle stepped aside).
It's been a nice subplot to what has become a steady stream of Ari subplots (he's the best character on the show, but do we really need all the stuff with his daughter?) and Johnny Drama punch lines. Even better than the storyline is the fact that Saigon is more than just an up-and-coming rapper on a TV show. He's also about to blow on the real hip-hop scene.
The real Saigon is probably one of the biggest rising stars in rap music. He has the voice, the flow, and the lyrics to be a mainstay. He's already left his mark on mix tapes, had a few guest spots, and he even has a decent album, Warning Shots, released in '04 on an independent label. On top of that, he has some marketing advantages that will help make his major label debut a massive success.
He is the first artist signed to mega producer Just Blaze's new label Fort Knox Entertainment. His album, The Greatest Story Never Told, is one of the most highly anticipated albums of 2006 and will be distributed through powerful Atlantic Records. Then there is the fact that he is gaining tremendous exposure by appearing on Entourage (not to mention already hitting the multimedia crossover level of stardom before even dropping a major label release).
This last factor could be his biggest advantage (as I will be pointing out later in a column detailing which up-and-coming rapper has the best chance at superstardom), but also the most improbable when you consider this seemingly impossible pairing.
Obviously, Entourage took some creative license in changing the Saigon character around a little bit. Most notably, the real Sai is from Brooklyn and is New York through and through, whereas on the show he hailed from South Central Los Angeles and worked at an imported car dealership off of Rodeo ("pronounced Ro-di-yo this side of Washington" as Sai's mom memorably cracked to Drama on one episode).
There is one other little thing the writers and producers of the show decided to tweak when it came to their guest emcee: they decided to stay away from portraying the real Saigon's apparent fascination with putting bullets into people.
Article comments
1 - Dave Nalle
The primary producer for the show is Mark Wahlberg, AKA Marky Mark, who certainly has some connections in the music/rap world. I imagine he had some idea who he was hiring.
That said, if these were juvenile crimes and the guy did his time, and some time has passed, he may not be the same little maniac he was at 16.
Dave
2 - shana
I'd be surprised if the producers had no idea. More likely, they figured if it did become a big deal it would only provide a little more cred for their insidery take on Hollywood-meets-rap.
This also made me vaguely remember Mark Wahlberg promoting The Yards -- about a guy who gets out of prison and tries to readjust to life at home -- and saying that he'd been pretty miserable during his own stint in jail. According to IMDB:
Wahlberg dropped out of high school at age 14 (but later got GED) to pursue a life of petty crime and drugs. He'd spend his days scamming and stealing, working on the odd drug deal before treating himself to the substances himself. The young man also had a violent streak - one which was often aimed at minorities. At age 16, he was convicted of assault against two Vietnamese men after he had tried to rob them. As a result of his assault conviction, he was sentenced to serve 50 days in prison at Deer Island penitentiary.
3 - Adam Hoff
Oh, I am sure they knew - I was just poking some fun at them and at the fact that Saigon is probably the oddest possible choice of an unknown rapper to feature on a TV show. That is, he WAS in a pre-50 Cent world. Now that a "backstory" is paramount and "street cred" rules all, it actually makes sense that they would want someone so "street" to appear on the show. It just cracked me up to see Saigon on the show, playing a pretty mild dude, and then to hear some of his tracks, where he explicitly boasts of murdering people. I have no problem with it (the juxstaposition, not murdering, I am firmly against murdering) - as I mentioned, I am a huge fan of both the show and the rapper - I just find it ironic.
Plus, I wanted a chance to get my "Saigon is going to blow up" prediction on paper. If anyone is in to hip hop, check out the article in the recent issue of XXL about New York rap. Saigon appears to be the only new NY rapper with any real hope of fending off the South's takeover of the genre. Interesting stuff. Particularly the point made by the author that Entourage was actually slowing Sai's eventual takevoer bid down, as opposed to bolstering it (although I suppose the two aren't mutually exclusive).
Also, I can't believe I forgot to mention this in the article, but Saigon calls himself "The Yardfather" - just felt like you needed to know this.
4 - M.
I kinda randomly stumbled upon this... anyways. Saigon preaches a pretty strong message of "Jail and gangs aren't cool," and doesn't seem to try to really glorify his past. You can read about it in any interviews he's given. Can't be too quick to judge a (person).
5 - SAIGON IS THE TRUTH...
MAYBE IF YOU DID A LITTLE MORE RESEARCH YOU WOULD REALIZE THAT SAIGON ACUALLY DID 6 YEARS AND 9 MONTHS...THAT DOESN'T SEEM LIKE A "LITTLE" BID TO ME. ANYWAY, THANKS FOR A COMPLETLY BIASED AND RETARDED READ.
6 - kay kay
well he probably is crazy. How can you come out normal when you grew up in jail. Didn't he beat up his girlfriend or something?
7 - LA
I met him in LA on vacation and he is very sexy and has good game makes you feel real comfortable,yet his is aggresive and pushy I did not even know who he was so I came home did some research, dont know about the past never seen the show but from one human being to another I wish him the best.
Love Ms. La