The Immersion: Putting in a “Day’s Work” With Saigon Posted by Dharmic X on 03/21/13 | Filed under Opinion, The Immersion, Saigon

In 2009, Rockstar Games and their "Grand Theft Auto" franchise placed their imprint on independent hip-hop in a major way. Not only did they employ the elusive Doomstarks duo for the Nintendo DS installment of the series, they also commissioned Boston’s Statik Selektah to produce an EP for downloadable expansion pack, titled "The Lost and the Damned". One of the project’s highlights was “Spit” by Saigon.



First of all, not only was the scratching on point, the hook was also a clever way of paying tribute to previously-released “To the Top”. Meanwhile the record features Saigon in pure rhyme animal mode, staggering his flow and dropping some incredible lines: “I rhyme like my ribs and my stomach touchin, gain pounds on these clowns like a hundred something.” The beat naturally knocked; Statik seldom fails with a track.

What was perhaps more impressive about “Spit” was the context in which the record was generated. The song not only was used by "Grand Theft Auto", but it was also the first single off of "All In A Day’s Work", a groundbreaking project that has since only been replicated by Statik himself. The premise was to record an album within 24 hours, and with the perfect balance, chemistry, and right energy, the two were able to come together and accomplish this.



“The Rules” is one of my favorite Saigon tracks, and is probably the biggest song off of "All In A Day’s Work". It all starts with the beat… there is simply an aura that surrounds a beat the supersedes all the rest—not for the skill involved in producing it, but rather, for the intangibles that only an individual listener can experience as he has the track playing in the headphones. The beat was elegant, a soulful intro leading into a thumping bassline that made it feel anthemic.

Meanwhile, when Saigon is at his peak he is an animated monster. He separates himself from the pack by not only spazzing out with his flow but elevating his game with his delivery, emphasizing certain phrases and introducing a wide range of variation. Each time he says something like “You’ll still will get punched in the mouth,” you don’t just feel it because you know that he once punched Prodigy from Mobb Deep in the face in front of P’s goons, you also feel the weight of the statement because of the manner in which he delivered the lines before and after that phrase.

“The Rules” was a very fundamental song, but a very dope one as well, easy to listen to and one that remained in constant repeat throughout the Spring of 2009. "All In A Day’s Work" was the project that ultimately salvaged what appeared to be a career nearing Papoose levels. After rhyming on a track with Jay-Z, Sai fell off the map for a long time. The interest in "The Greatest Story Never Told" had totally waned, but the ability to craft and release such a solid body of work over original production in such a brief amount of time reminded people of the energy and dynamism that made them love Saigon when he was first starting to develop his name. The release of "All In a Day’s Work" paved the way for the elusive "Greatest Story Never Told" to finally get released nearly two years later.

See Also:  The Immersion: Fighting “Chinatown Wars” With Ghostface & MF Doom
See Also:  The Immersion: Preparing for Slaughterhouse’s Onslaught