For the three or four people that read the column on a weekly basis, they already know what I think of lists. They're boring, formulaic and problematic. I haven't run out of ideas to write about yet, hence the lack of lists. Sorry, no list here. I do have to credit Saigon's "50 Cent Diss" on The Yardfather Part 2 mixtape for the title here. Thanks, Sai. The day I start making lists on a consistent basis that have to do with my favorite rappers, producers, albums, labels, publicists, et cetera, you'll know I've hit the unforgiving brick wall of creativity.
But I'm not mad at the MTV heads for making the list. It works pretty well for them. They make the list, a million people disagree and in the end, everyone ends up talking about MTV. If I've learned anything these last couple of years, it's to find a formula that works, perfect it and beat people over the head with it.
And speaking of Saigon, dude is finally off Atlantic. No big surprise there. I don't think Saigon was ever very happy to be over there and I don't think Atlantic was ever very happy to have Saigon over there. From an outside perspective, it seemed like one of those relationships where neither person was ever really happy but they were thinking that at some point it might maybe kind of get better.
Where does Saigon go from here? For starters, he has a lot of groundwork to do. He's lost a lot of fans who are rightfully tired of hearing about how great The Greatest Story Never Told is without getting to actually hear it. Whose fault it is that the album never dropped on Atlantic, we'll never really know unless we hear both sides of the story, and how many times do you hear CEO's sounding off in interviews about why employees needed to go? But back to Saigon. He's consistently dropped quality mixtapes while trying to get The Greatest Story Never Told out, but I don't know how many fans really want another Saigon mixtape when they've all (myself included) have been waiting for a Saigon album featuring Just Blaze production. Unless Saigon and Just decide to just leak the album themselves, we're probably going to have to wait a long time to hear that music. And as for the Saigon and Tru Life album, I have absolutely no idea what's going on with that. I don't know if they actually recorded anything, if they're going to or anything else surrounding that project. I also have no idea what's going on with Tru Life's project. Apparently I need to find some answers.
Okay, so Lenny S just confirmed that Tru Life peaced out of Rocafella a couple months ago.
Remember three years ago when Saigon had his deal and Tru Life signed for reportedly $1 million to Rocafella? Stimuli had his deal at Virgin. There was talk of Immortal Technique going major. Grafh was either getting in or getting out of one of his labels. Jae Millz was supposed to be coming out. I think Maino had his deal with Universal. And all these guys were going to come out and drop monster albums. Ahh, the good ol' days.
Perfect segue to talk more about Maino. Dude has been making some moves lately, but how surprised are you going to be if Maino has an easy time coming out on Atlantic where Saigon didn't? Maino's a good rapper, but what would honestly sell more in stores, a Saigon/Just Blaze album or a Maino album? I don't need to put in the "no disresepct intended" disclaimer here because a) there is no disrespect and b) whenever anyone says "no disrespect intended," there's about to be some intentional disrespect.
Please give me a second to get my Dwight Schrute voice ready.
Fact - Saigon and Atlantic both dropped the ball on The Greatest Story Never Told.
Fact - Saigon never should have punched Prodigy in the face at a Hot 97 event.
Fact - The Greatest Story Never Told was more anticipated than Maino's upcoming album.
Fact - Maino is grinding right now and he better stay grinding if he ever wants to see the light of day on Atlantic.
Maybe the worst news of the week this side of Camu Tao's death is Bow Wow joining Entourage. The show has been going downhill and it looks like it's going to continue on that downward spiral for awhile. Bow Wow is reportedly going to play Charlie, a comedian managed by chronic whiner E. Honestly, I hope this isn't going to be the nail in Entourage's coffin because at this point, it's sure looking like that. Entourage has a great fanbase already and for a show that is very influenced by hip-hop, it's got a broad following including a lot of people who don't couldn't write a thesis paper on stylistic differences between Papoose and Uncle Murder. At the risk of sounding long-winded, all I'm trying to say is don't ruin a good thing. Entourage doesn't need a wannabe rapper/thug/actor/ladies' man to make the show more popular. And if you feel the need to add a rapper to the show, add someone with some personality that's not completely contrived.
Need a comedian? Uncle Murder is hilarious. Immortal Technique actually should be a comedian. Sean Price is funny. Rick Ross may be one of the funniest rappers ever. Those are all additions that could have been made where I think it would have worked.
And honestly, I hope I'm wrong about Bow Wow being the worst mistake Entourage ever made since having Vinny Chase leave Ari (we all knew that was really going to last; that was a move where I think the producers felt they had to end the season on a "cliffhanger" and give you a reason to tune in next season). If Bow Wow is a good addition, I'll say it. I have no problem with that. I hope he is good in it. But all my money is on Bow Wow's addition to the show bringing down the show's quality. Honestly, Entourage is at that point where they could have anyone they wanted and the best they could come up with is Bow Wow. That's like being at a SI Swimsuit party and can walk out with any one of 'em and you end up in a corner talking football with Dr. Z.
Bow Wow's even trying to pull the Will Smith card, saying that's who he's trying to be like. Let's flash back to the June 23, 2006 column when Bow Wow called out Will Smith:
"Apparently the little brat also criticized Will Smith for being too clean-cut. I guess we didn't get the press release that when Lil' Bow Wow turned into Bow Wow (kinda like the whole 2Pac/Makaveli thing, right?), he got a little rough around the edges. It's pretty ridiculous for someone like Bow Wow, who has tried to take a lot of the same steps as Will Smith, to criticize him. Say what you want about that crappy "Switch" song, but Will Smith is a hip-hop legend. Not only that, he showed you could be a TV star and rapper at the same time and be good at them both. If it wasn't for the Fresh Prince, cornballs like Bow Wow and Nick Cannon would have a tougher time ruining hip-hop."
Ahh, at least we have the reruns. Enjoy the weather, make a list, cry into a pillow, sign a deal with a major label...the world is yours (this is when it would be really nice to have a dramatic echo effect come in).
05/13 - 
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