"MC's are hopeless thinking record sales makes them the dopest" - KRS One

"Personally I preach prophecy

These punks puttin out poems about pimpin, pushin, and property

Please

People ain't prepared to be persuaded by political paraphrases that threatening them papers" Saigon

Buy Saigons album

Not just becuase its dope (I haven't listened to it yet) Not even because you like him. Buy it because you believe in the artistry in hip hop music, and not in overly judgmental label executives. Buy it because you believe ones music should not be "directed" by A&Rs' and marketing/promotion, but by the artist. Buy it as a a big middle finger to label executives who think folks will only purchase main stream released music that has a dance, r&b hook, or some other gimmick. Buy it because you believe hip hop music is about rhyming ....beats and rhymes....

I first began lauding the skill set of Sai probably 8 years ago. During that time I heard from a few people comments along the lines of "well if he is that dope how come he does not have an album out" Beyond the obvious answer it was clear that this was a guy who could have had he wanted to...only....he would have had to change his name to:

"Saigon -the dude -who got shot four -times-and shanked -a -nigga -in-the joint-with-a-jagged-end-of-a-saline-cracker-box"

Then he would have had to do album covers topless (to show the bullet wounds-aka-invincibility) and talk in interviews about how his house got shot-up and how he is just keeping it real. He would have to walk with a distinct yet "cool" limp, due to damage from a still lodged bullet from an unknown assailants gun.

Because we know, pre-Kayne, the industry was only into promoting and celebrating Black death in music. While he did have all of the trappings (see: legit street rep) that would have easily allowed for this to be his "gimmick", he never allowed himself to be hoed out by the industry. And for that, the nigga deserves your 9 bucks...word.

Enough with my rant. I am going to cop the new Saigon, then, before I listen to it, I'm gonna go back and listen to his old mixtapes in their entirety.