Fanta Jarjussey followed-up her interview with New York rapper Saigon earlier this month by catching the underground legend when he performed at London’s XOYO this weekend.

So when we got wind of Saigon’s live performance in London I put my glad rags on and made my way to XOYO in East London. We arrived around midnight, half an hour before he was due to come out, so made it just in time for DJ Snips‘ set.

First thing to sort out was stage access so I could bring you the best pictures from the night. Once that was sorted, we took a seat with a bottle of wine and watched as the crowd got wild to classic hip hop tracks from Snips. Hit em High Hit Em Low blasted from the speakers and the room erupted when a few Tupac classics were coupled with the usual RIP tributes. 

By the time Saigon came out just after 12:30AM, it was clear that this crowd were the real deal and it didn’t go unnoticed; Saigon started off with “London!!! What the fuck is going on? Been telling n**gas London is crazy for hip hop!…So I finally put my album out…. me and my brother Just Blaze. You don’t hear hip hop like this let’s go! I see some hip hop heads in the building, real hip hop heads where u at?!!”

The show got was off to a great start before his second song So Cruel from his 2009 mini-album All In A Days Work “You gon’ hear the sound of the pound, how many of y’all play video games? Call of Duty? I fuck with video games!!” As the song drops he says “Everybody be sayin Just Blaze plays too many video games…. man I play em more than all of em!” 

After that, it only got better, as he performed the song Get Busy, the crowd were loving it and everybody -including us sitting on the left of stage- started shouting along with him “Go Saigon get busy, go London get busy” He seemed pretty chuffed at this point as the atmosphere in the place had gotten a lot heavier since he started performing. “London you don’t stop! We got some hip hop heads in here huh? London make some fucking noise tonight. I been telling n**gas yo, London is the same as New York but I went to Birmingham and I was like what the fuck is this n**ga? It’s cool but sh*t look cold n**ga!”

At this point everybody was gassed up including the main man as he took his durag off and got into it. He walked up to the DJ booth and popped a bottle of champagne. He followed this with a tribute to his mother who passed away before a show, which lead him to cancel the date in an announcement on Twitter. It was obvious that this had affected him deeply, he asked the crowd to make some noise if they loved their mums and God but when the audience made more noise for their mum than God he put his comedic twist to it and lightened the mood. “Make some noise and mama got more love than God? You going to hezz-ell for that n**ga” It worked as the entire room erupted in laughter. 

Next up we were treated to I Want It AlI and he asked the crowd who was out here to get it all and the track dropped as he ran across the stage and pointed the mic to the audience as they rapped along word for word.

This was followed by what I thought was the most heartfelt performance of the night Down The Road which is the bonus track on The Greatest Story Never Told, he seemed very emotional during the performance and afterwards said “I felt that shit. There’s a difference between liking sh*t and feeling sh*t.” The fans seemed to agree and started clapping to which he replied “Don’t be lazy to clap your hand n**ga!” 

Saigon put his shades on for this next one; Clap his collaboration with Faith Evans. He really enjoyed this one with us and started dancing all over the stage [or maybe it was the champagne kicking in?]. Afterwards he referred to his mother again “That made me think of my moms…” A sympathetic crowd made some noise and the DJ drops Greatest Story Never Told, midway through the performance Saigon starts asking where it’s at? South or West London? The crowd starts stamping their feet and scream for south so I started shouting “West Londooon” which got few cheers. North London got air as he dropped an old school joint Favourite Things
.

At the end of the track Saigon gushed “London feels like home man” and spoke about Bring Me Down telling us “There’s always someone tryna bring you down…this is for them” as the crowd started to singalong.

“London you gon’ feel this no matter what they do” as the DJ had struggled with technical difficulties Saigon went acapella for The Letter P and the crowd start singing along to save the day.

 He then walked over to left of the stage where we were sitting and took our bottle out of the ice bucket about to have some when he realised it was wine “Tryna give me white zinfandel nahhh I don’t drink that sh*t man” As the crowd laughed I went backstage to the PR team who gave me drinks of straight Courvoisier on the rocks to pass to him. I stood by the side and waited for him to take the drink off me when he pulled me on stage, kissed me on the cheek and said “Sorry if that’s anyone’s girlfriend” The crowd laughed and I whispered in his ear to stop and gave him the drink! His sweat was dripping on me as he walked away so I went outside to cool off for a minute….

When I came back in there were a few more more technical difficulties but the comedian that he is, Saigon turned it into a joke “I’m killing myself up here! My DJ is confused” as the crowd laughed. He started freestyling again as a result and spoke about his mentor Just Blaze and the sound clash tour he does with fellow legendary producer Alchemist “When they do the sound clash, that sh*t is epic yo, check this beat out” Everybody goes wild as the beat drops but more technical difficulties stop him from going ahead. He tells them to hold on but they keep going nuts making even more noise.

As the crowd start chanting for Hood Life, Sai says he likes Baby Cham and asks the crowd if they like him too, then he drops his song feat Baby Cham Chilly Boom. Straight afterwards Saigon announces that he had actually gone over the allocated time as the clock struck 1:50AM. “It’s time for me to go y’all…Who love your mama? I love London” Despite the technical difficulties the man put on an amazing show proving exactly why his debut album is featured with legends who are on his side. As he says his goodbyes we go back stage and took a few pictures. He spent the most of half an hour signing autographs and taking pictures with fans before inviting us along with his team. We all ended up drinking champagne and chatting the night away…

There’s something special about Saigon and it goes beyond his music. The comedic strain in his personality along with his charm and charisma, he has this energy that draws you to him and he comes across so genuine and a real person without the celebrity attitude. It’s refreshing and beautiful to see.

For more information about Saigon or to purchase his debut album The Greatest Story Never Told visit saigonnation.com

Words by Fanta Jarjussey

Previously: Fanta Jarjussey interviews Saigon

Tags: Fanta Jarjussey, Hip Hop, Saigon