Anybody remember this dude named Saigon? He was the 1st artist signed to Just Blaze's label Fort Knoxx through Atlantic records. Naw? He actually used to be on HBO's Entourage too. Don't remember dude? Come on, remember him and Pappose were suppose to be the one two punch that was gonna bring New York hip hop back. Still don't remember money? Me either.
Of course, I'm playing. We all know who Saigon is. I'm just making the point that in this internet age, that's how this hip hop game is. One minute you're a household name but next month cats are like "who's dude?" Forget having your 15 minutes of fame, it's more like your 2 minutes of fame nowadays. Saigon's The Greatest Story Never Told was one of the most anticipated albums that was gonna drop in 2007, but through a rack of label drama the album was shelved indefinitely. And truth be told, I actually had given up that it would ever drop. I remember searching the net for months for this and never coming up with anything so I called it a day. But now, 4 years later we'll finally get a chance to hear Sai's debut album we've all been waiting for. Now the question is, was it worth the wait.
Well, I can say this. The way Sai and Just start off their offering with the "Invitation" featuring Q Tip and Fat Man Scoop is the way you're suppose to set off an album! This song is flat out SICKENING! Sai kills it, Tip's chorus fits perfect and the beat is that classic close your eyes and imagine that "vintage Just Blaze sound". "Come On Baby" with Jay Z is still just as crazy as it was when it first dropped. "Enemies" and "Friends" go together hand in hand and "The Greatest Story Never Told" is another Just Blaze banger. "Clap" featuring Faith Evans is dope and ends with an all out church service which leads in perfectly into "Preacher". The only miscues for me on GSNT is the Kanye West produced "It's Alright" with Marsha Ambrosius and Give It To Me" with Raheem DeVaughn. (messing around with those R&B singers) Other then those two songs, the way the albums flows is damn near flawless. Saigon lyrically annihilates this album and Just matches his intensity track for track. (Just produced 10 out of the albums 17 tracks) And to top everything off, for the exception of Layzie Bone, Jay Z and Bun B, Saigon holds down the entire album dolo which is unheard of in 2011!
And to be honest, Sai really shocked me with the lyrical content of GSNT because money is really dropping some serious jewels on this album. It's like he's your tour guide through the hood and touching on a lot of the serious issues going on in the world. And even though the bulk of the album was recorded 4+ years ago, it's still relevant right now. I really think the dopest thing about this album is how each song flows into the next. My only beef with GSNT is there are a couple of filler jawns on this album which keeps it from getting the classic title but even with the filler, GSNT is still a rock solid album. So even though it doesn't get the Ric Flair world championship belt, I mos def can give it the Arn Anderson TV title. And to answer the original question was GSNT worth the wait...yup, it was.
4.5 outta 5
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