Saigon is a US hip hop rapper from Spring Valley, New York. Born Brian Carenard in 1977, he grows up moving between family members in Spring Valley, Brooklyn, New Jersey and Virginia after being born in Newburgh, New York.

Early life and name

Saigon begins selling marijuana at 11 and joins a neighbourhood gang at 13. By 15, he has been involved in at least two shootings and serves jail time. He spends much of the following years in prison and says the New York penal system effectively raises him. While incarcerated, he takes the name Saigon from the Vietnam War book Bloods by Wallace Terry.

Career

He signs to Just Blaze’s Fort Knox Entertainment and works on a major label debut, The Greatest Story Never Told. He also appears in the second and third seasons of the HBO series Entourage, which helps raise his profile with a wider audience.

Collaborations and other appearances

In 2005, Saigon records separate tracks with Australian MC Phrase and singer Daniel Merriweather.

Personal incidents

In January 2006, he is stabbed in the temple with a beer bottle during an attempted chain robbery in Chelsea, New York. He drives himself to Bellevue Hospital and receives seventy stitches.