After a controversial weekend that included threatening to slap rappers Joe Budden and Nelly as part of a Shade 45 interview, Saigon has ended the madness by declaring his retirement from rap.
On the rapper’s Myspace page, Saigon wrote a blog Monday that blamed the Hip Hop media for its endorsement of his controversial comments. “If I woulda said, ‘I’ll slap John Hardy
Hawkins for his role in the slave trade,’ [the media] would never put
it in boldface or re-run it 1,000 times,” wrote the rapper. “But If
I say ‘I’ll slap a rapper or something,’ it’s the headline news of the
day. That’s ass backwards to me, so I’m done.”
The written tirade also turned on the artistry of Hip Hop. “Fuck this bum ass rap game anyway. It’s full
of fake ass niggas who pump poison to the kids, make a few dollars and
act like they’re larger then life when they know their music is
detrimental to their fucking communities. If it ain’t about sex, it’s about drugs or violence. Where are
the songs about getting an education, or being responsible parents and
shit, or stopping the gang violence? This shit is sickening.” The rapper added that he was not doing mixtapes, albums or features – ending all facets of his art.
The statements come in a year that has witnessed numerous album release date push-backs, amidst a storied physical altercation with Prodigy. Saigon‘s The Greatest Story Never Told has been talked about since its 2004 announcement, but despite several singles, yet to secure a release date from Ft. Knox/Atlantic. Neither label has yet to confirm a retirement. In the blog posting, Saigon wrote, “I gotta figure out how I’m gonna break this to Just Blaze.“
