Saigon (rapper)
Brian Daniel Carenard (born June 1, 1977) better known by his stage name Saigon, is an American rapper and actor.
Saigon is currently signed to Suburban Noize Records and Just Blaze's Fort Knocks Entertainment record label. After years of delay due to former record label interference, his album The Greatest Story Never Told was released on Suburban Noize Records. He is also known for his appearances on the HBO television series Entourage.
Life and career
Saigon was born in Spring Valley, New York. In the late 1990s, he was sentenced to jail time at Napanoch’s Eastern Correctional Facility, serving a sentence for first-degree assault after shooting at someone in a bar. One day while in the recreation yard, Brian met a fellow inmate named Hakim, who rapped and had a reputation for incorporating positive messages, and heavy use of prestigious vocabulary in his rhymes. Carenard would later state that battle rapping with Hakim would help instigate his personal rehabilitation, as he set a course for redemption through hip hop music. While serving time, Brian named himself "Saigon" after reading Wallace Terry’s book about the Vietnam War. This book helped realign the content and diction in Saigon's raps, as well as the advice of a prison lifer: "There’s no right way to do wrong." Saigon was eventually released from prison in 2000, and immediately recorded mixtapes, with the goal of obtaining a record contract as a means to release a debut album, which he wanted to be titled "The Greatest Story Never Told".