A story of persistence and dedication.

If I were to ask most music listeners if the name Saigon rings a bell I would have to assume that the majority of individuals would respond with “Sai what?”. Saigon boldly entered into the hip-hop industry in 2005 with a two season cameo on the popular show Entourage. Saigon interestingly enough played himself as an up and coming rapper trying to make it big. After his final Entourage appearance in 2006 Saigon decided to take his lyrical skills to the next level by collaborating and pledging his allegiance to super producer Just Blaze. Blaze has been quoted saying things such as, “Saigon is the most talented rapper the rap game has seen since Tupac.” Since 2005 fans and critics have salivated over this rappers unbelievable flow and bold nonchalant attitude.

In late 2006 Just Blaze tickled the hearts of thousands of Saigon fans by informing them that Saigon’s debut album titled The Greatest Story Never Told would release through an Atlantic Records deal in November of 2007.

Now let me take you on a journey, through the four year saga I would like to title “How to never tell a great story”. On June 1st, 2007 Saigon posted a blog on MySpace (yes we were still communicating through MySpace at this point in time) unintelligently informing the world that Atlantic Records did not like him because he was not a “Jingle Writer” and that he was going to release the album independently. On June 14th, 2007 Just Blaze responded on his MySpace telling everyone to settle down and that Saigon’s comment was not only incorrect but also unnecessary and that Atlantic was still involved in the process. Finally, on November 19th, 2007, with anticipation for the album growing, Saigon posted to his MySpace two simple words “I QUIT”. In a statement he gave HipHopGame.com later in the day he said, "This is it. The Greatest Story Never Told...I guess you could say it was prophecy," implying the album would never be released. Exactly one month later on December 19th, 2007 Saigon informed the world that he reconsidered retiring and planned on releasing The Greatest Story Never Told. Well Mr. Saigon it’s now January 19th, 2011 and The Greatest Story Never Told still has not been told. So your probably asking “Will this great story ever be told?”. It’s a long story.

In May of 2008 Saigon was released from Atlantic and received 100% ownership of the album. In February of 2010 Saigon announced via his Facebook (yep were getting closer to the present don’t worry) that he got a new deal with Suburban Noize Records to release the album on February 15th, 2011 (cross your fingers). So it is now less than a month from the release of what some critics are calling, “The most anticipated album since The Carter 3.” and new singles are beginning to drop. The track list has been released, which you can see below, and having heard almost 75% of the album I must say this is going to be an album to remember. Don’t cry you don’t have to wait a month to hear some fresh Saigon. If you’re interested in listening to some of the tracks off the album don’t worry because numerous songs from the album were released over the last half of a decade. Tracks like "Believe It", "Come On Baby" and “The Greatest Story Never Told” (background track for the week) are all great songs to throw on your playlist right now to satisfy that itch. Enough about Saigon the bottom line is mark your calendars for February 15th and cross your fingers for the release of an amazing debut album that has been in the works for six years. Keep it fresh my friends. Dj Dolph

No. Title Producer(s) Length

1. "Station Identification (Intro)" (feat. Fatman Scoop) Just Blaze 2:43

2. "The Invitation" (feat. Q-Tip and Fatman Scoop) Just Blaze 4:36

3. "Come On Baby" (feat. Jay-Z and Swizz Beatz) Just Blaze 3:43

4. "War" Scram Jones 1:59

5. "Bring Me Down Pt. 2" 4:46

6. "Enemies" D. Allen 3:41

7. "Friends" Just Blaze 1:50

8. "The Greatest Story Never Told" Just Blaze 4:00

9. "Clap" (feat. Faith Evans) Just Blaze 6:30

10. "Preacher" Just Blaze 4:22

11. "It’s Alright" (feat. Marsha Ambrosius) Kanye West 5:59

12. "Believe It" Just Blaze 6:01

13. "Give It To Me" (feat. Raheem DeVaughn) SC 5:17

14. "What The Lovers Do" (feat. Devin the Dude) Red Spyda 4:15

15. "Better Way" (feat. Layzie Bone) Just Blaze 4:30

16. "Oh Yeah (Our Babies)" Buckwild 4:14

Awesome Saigon interview talking about upcoming album

Sometimes an individual in the rap game comes along who is not only brilliant at throwing down untouchable rhymes but also demonstrates a savvy business sense. On T-Pain’s most recent single release titled Motivated he created one of the largest marketing splashes the hip hop game has ever seen. Before the official release of Motivated T-Pain leaked the song to several large hip hop web sites (hotnewhiphop.com, djbooth.net, 2dopeboyz.com) but interestingly enough the song was missing a second verse. Meaning that instead of T-Pain coming in on the second verse it was just a blank instrumental. This caused a huge amount of commotion throughout the industry as blogs were going crazy and hip-hop rating sites were questioning what was going on. The next day, December 15^th, T-Pain informed the media that he was hosting a contest. He had released Motivated unfinished because he wanted unsigned artists to create their own second verse and submit it to his website. From there T-Pain would pick one individual and they would be welcomed to his studio to record their verse and be featured on his up and coming mixtape titled Prevolver.

Last week the official single was released for download and interestingly enough the group known as Mayday, whom I previously wrote an article about, stole the crown. The two emcees from the group Wrek and Bernbiz jumped on this track and clearly caught the eye of T-Pain. Like I said in my previous article these guys really have great lyricism and are very dynamic even when going over a beat as complicated as Motivated. Speaking of the beat it is only fair that I recognize the new producer Young Frye who killed it for T-Pain with this one.

If T-Pain’s auto tune iPhone app didn’t prove he is capable of thinking outside the box to generate revenue, this brilliant marketing scheme definitely shows he is comparable to rap business stars such as 50 cent or Diddy. It looks like it’s going to be a very good year for Nappy Boy and Mayday, I hope the same for all of my viewers. Happy 2011 and as usual keep it fresh my friends. Dj Dolph.

Click below for T-Pain's invitation to compete!

T-Pain – Motivated (Open Unsigned Artists Contest)

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Singer, actor, comedian and philanthropist Jamie Foxx is once again fresh out of the studio, this time dropping his much-anticipated album titled Best Night of My Life. Foxx was supposed to release this album on July 20^th, 2010 shortly after the release of his hit single "Winner" featuring T.I. and Justin Timberlake. After a debate with the distribution team the album was rescheduled for December 21^st, 2011. In order to keep Jamie’s hype alive two tracks off the album were released last week. The first is titled “Living Better Now” featuring Rick Ross and the second single is titled “Fall For Your Type”, which features modern say superstar Drake. Both of these tracks are unbelievably catchy and Foxx’s voice as usual is simply irresistible.

Maybe even more appealing is the fact that with all the commotion that comes with releasing an album Foxx still makes time to give back to his community. He is currently an ambassador for VH1’s Save the Music campaign, a non-profit organization dedicated to restoring instrumental music education in America's public schools, and raising awareness about the importance of music as part of each child's complete education. To date, the Foundation has provided more than $47 million in new musical instruments to 1,750 public schools in more than 100 cities around the country, impacting the lives of over 1.6 million children. Foxx is working with Save the Music to create a national “Word Train” promotion about the redemptive power of music, inspired by his film The Solist. If this program is successful it will create buzz for Save the Music and encourage more individuals to take the time to make a donation.

Save the Music and Foxx recognize that our youth hold the future in their hands and if we fail to influence them in positive ways music will lose its appeal. By developing long-term, sustainable instrumental music programs in schools VH1 provides children with equal access to music education regardless of their financial situation. Individuals like Jamie Foxx who care about those who are less fortunate truly make a difference in a world where many are so self absorbed. Without Save the Music who knows how the music industry would turn out in 40 years and without the money to purchase instruments who knows what hidden talent lies in some of these schools. With programs like this the music industry is not only giving back to those who are financially struggling but also insuring that there will always be a future in music. I urge all my viewers to take a look at the Save the Music website linked below and in the spirit of Christmas make a donation to help those who are less fortunate. Below are some links to Jamie’s to new material and don’t forget to pick up a copy of his new album Best Night of My Life next week. Stay fresh my friends. Dolph

VH1 Save the Music

On November 22nd Kanye West released his album My Beautiful Dark and Twisted Fantasy. Since its release it has been receiving an unbelievable amount of attention and rumors in the hip-hop world have been circulating claiming this album may be considered a “hip hop classic”. I find this interesting because it seems as if there are always two crucial components for a CD to release and be considered a “classic”. The obvious aspect is that the artists’ work must be ground breaking but interestingly enough the second component is what we call “hype”. The question then becomes, how does an artist create buzz in today’s fast paced media driven culture? To answer this question I turned to a video I recently watched on a website called TED.com.



In this video a man named Alex Ohanian, one of the founders of Reddit, discuses how to make a “Splash in Social Media”. He tells a story about how a non-profit organization called Greenpeace; in an effort to end whaling, put together a campaign to track hump back whales. Interestingly enough they decided to name each whale and start an online poll to see which whale should be focused on. Therefore, each whale was given a very serious name, most of which were in a foreign language signifying tranquility and other oceanic qualities. Then for some odd reason, out of nowhere, they named one whale “Mister Splashy Pants”. Whoever thought of this name and why is unknown, but what we do known is that this poll was turned into a social media party, almost entirely due to the name Splashy Pants. Of course, Mister Splashy Pants won the contest, gaining almost 80% of the votes.

Now before your minds start wondering, NO, Kanye West did not make another public outburst, this time demoralizing our beloved Mister Splashy Pants. Although I’m almost positive Kanye’s best friend Taylor Swift will write a love song about Mister Splashy Pants’ rescue and who knows maybe she will win another Grammy for it. Anyways, the correlation between Mister Splash Pants and Kanye West ultimately lies in the splash. The question in the entertainment industry today seems to always be how can we make a splash in social media in order to crate hype and ultimate success? So how did Kanye go from being Mr. A-hole, who publicly deflates little girl’s egos on national television, back to Superstar producer/rapper?
Two words: G.O.O.D. Fridays.

No, Easter is not approaching and no this has absolutely nothing to do with Christianity. G.O.O.D. Fridays is a free music program made by Kanye West, which consists of releasing a song every Friday. (his label is called G.O.O.D. Music and each Friday a song is released, get it?) For 13 weeks straight Kanye released singles to create a social media frenzy. Fans absolutely loved this idea and it did not take long before hip-hop websites started buzzing about how great the music was. By the third G.O.O.D. Friday Kanye had fans literally waiting online for him to post his most recent release. When it finally became time for My Beautiful Dark and Twisted Fantasy to drop, G.O.O.D. Fridays had successfully transformed it into a highly anticipated album and a huge social media splash.

Another splash Kanye created can also be found below. Kanye decided to draw his own album art for My Beautiful Dark and Twisted Fantasy and shockingly enough the cover depicted two individuals having sexual intercourse while smiling (with fangs). When Kanye sent the album artwork in for approval, clearly it was denied but that is just where the story starts. Social media sites went absolutely insane over this picture while fans sat in disbelief as to why Kanye would believe this was appropriate. Whether Kanye meant to create such hype over this issue or not the bottom line is that Kanye splashed around quite a bit before releasing this album, a true marketing genius in my opinion.

Needless to say, the album is truly remarkable and I highly advise anyone who is sleeping on Kanye West to go to iTunes and make a purchase. (Link conveniently located below). The album lived up to and surpassed the hype that was built around it and for the last two weeks has been the only CD in my car. Stay fresh with Kanye West my friends. Dolph.

A few months ago Michael Jackon’s first single off his posthumous album “Michael” was partially leaked onto the Internet. The track, which is titled "Hold My Hand", features pop superstar Akon and is deemed for success on the top 40 pop charts. Sources claim that the track was downloaded over 50 million times in a little over two months. There are some fans who are upset with this release, for they believe these tracks never should be commercialized, but as many of us know controversy appears in some way during every project. It is the opinion of many fans around the world that an artist of Michael’s caliber should be the only one to make the decision that the album is ready for sale. Either way, the album is ready to drop and November 12th graced us with the COMPLETED fresh single and a great interview with Konvict’s Akon, where he describes the emotions that came when working with the legend we know as Michael Jackson.

Try to tackle any project and you will find that problems rise left and right but there is no problem that trumps the death of Michael Jackson in the middle of recording his come back album. Luckily, Akon’s track with Michael was primarily completed before his death but because the track was partially leaked onto the Internet they stopped production and the track was never finished. Akon discusses that working with Michael on this project was like nothing he has ever experienced before. Akon explains, “"Just to be in the same room [with him], I felt like everything I wanted to achieve in life had already been achieved. That's how incredible that aura [is].” When Michael died Akon picked the project back up in memory of Michael and wow, that show commitment on Akon’s behalf. Even more applauding is the fact that Michael was the manager of this project and Akon simply the producer. For Akon to turn around and take the reins and release such an explosive song is simply remarkable.

This project like any other required an extreme amount of time and dedication but in the end the song is one that we will always remember. Akon has expressed that having the ability to work with Michael has changed his career forever, proving that the most effective way to gain greatness is to surround oneself with greatness. In the end I believe Michael would be proud to see this project come to an end and in his honor I hope this track has mainstream success.

All of us miss and will always remember the “King of Pop”. RIP MJ

Stay fresh my friends, Dolph.

(Click below to play “Hold My Hand” in a separate window. Click play to watch one of Akon’s intervews on YouTube below. )

Listen Now




INTERVIEW WITH AKON

When it comes to working in the recording industry creating a powerful team is a must. The group Far East Movement is sweeping the nation with their unique sound and interesting collaboration techniques. Creating a well functioning team will aid any group in ultimately achieving success and Kev Nisk, DJ Virman, Prohgress and J-Splif know all to well how this works. The band has branded their image by creating an infectious type of music known as electro pop. Their first hit single “Girls on the Dance Floor” was the number one requested song in their city before they were even signed. Their second single “Like a G6” is currently toping the billboard top 100 chart and bounced at every club around the United States. Far East Movement has titled their first album “Free Wired” meaning that one of their goals is to remain as socially connected to their fans as possible.
With a properly functioning team an artist has the ability to focus on social presence because other important responsibilities are being delegated to various individuals.

In today’s high paced and Internet driven society, it is more important than ever for artist to understand the concept of teamwork. It takes more than an artist with a unique sound to become popular and as obvious as that used to be in today’s world it becomes even more apparent. An artist should be able to focus exclusively on his or her music while the team behind the artist works to advance popularity. In the world of hip-hop the artists’ manager is the teams president and foundation. The manager works to make sure that every aspect of the artists’ career is moving at a proper pace and in the right direction. The manager will grow the team by uniting the artist with producers, engineers, record executives and talent agents. As the artist grows the team will grow as well, public relations and social media presence are two aspects that are more important today than they have ever been.

To download Far East Movement’s latest album “Free Wired”, which dropped on October 12th, click on the iTunes link bellow. In the meantime sit back and listen to their new single “Don’t Look Now” featuring Keri Hilson. Don’t sleep on these guys; they are bound to keep your iPod jamming. Jam On my friends: Dj Dolph

How is this for an iesting name? Meet Chidera Anamega “Chiddy” and Noah Beresin “Xaphoon Jones” together they form the hip hop/electronica duo Chiddy Bang. Their name comes from a shortened version of Chidera while the Bang they say they really can not explain. The duo met their freshmen year while attending Drexel University in Philadelphia through a mutual friend who knew they would work well together. The band has gained enormous popularity due to their interesting blend of hip hop and unique sample choices from artists such as Radiohead, Passion Pit and MGMT. In early February 2009 the music blog Pretty Much Amazing showcased five songs by Chiddy Bang and from their they moved on to be an underground music success. Their first single, "Opposite of Adults" sampled the group MGMT’s KIDS and was released on April 20, 2010 in the US. The duos next hit single to hit the streets was a remix to UK’s Ellie Goulding’s "Under the Sheets". If you havn’t downloaded either of these tracks then you are already behind the ball and your iPod is stale so stop reading here and download those right now. Ok your back lets continue. Their style continues to impress industry titans and they are currently being courted by several major record labels. Despite their upcoming success and busy UK tour schedule they still managed to release a mini mixtape in April titled Air Swell, which is free for download by clicking the link below.

Now let’s skip to the present, two days ago on October 12^th Chiddy Bang released their first studio album titles The Preview, which is on itunes for your downloading pleasure. Their first single off the album is titled "The Good Life" which is co-produced and co-written by the legendary Pharrell. Both members of the band are still attending college and when asked how they are managing the juggle they answer quite simply, “They are not”. Keep your eyes peeled for these guys and keep their name close Google because they are bound to blow up soon. Keeping your playlist fresh: Dj Dolph