Saigon Questions Nicki Minaj’s Marketing Plan

Saigon has been popping up in the news quite a bit recently thanks to his announcement that he's starting his own record label and leaving the Love & Hip Hop television show. During a recent interview with VladTV, Saigon had a lot to say about Nicki Minaj and Jay Electronica. While he stopped short of full-on bashing Minaj, Sai did bring up some interesting points about the rapper's career and the state of hip-hop in general.

"Nobody has a sense of responsibility," says Sai. "They go, 'We getting this money.' That's always the excuse, 'I'm getting money. I'm getting money.' So money's everything, that's it? Look how many lives you're destroying with your message to make this money. Look at how many people you're destroying to make this money."

"I don't blame an artist like Nicki Minaj but it just confuses me why a lot of her lyrics are x-rated," he continued." Meanwhile, they market her with Barbie. I got a five-year old daughter who loves Barbie. Then they use Barbie to market Nicki Minaj and Nicki Minaj is, not to bash—I don't even want to finish that because it looks like I'm bashing...I know it ain't the artists, it's really the marketing person. It's the person that's gonna pump $2 million into putting you out there. That's the real problem."

Saigon was then asked if Jay Electronica would be represented as the next "big conscious rapper." To which Saigon replied, "I didn't hear enough of Jay Electronica to put him in that category. I know he wasn't ignorant but I don't know where Jay Electronica was gonna go because I don't think he put out enough music...He had a huge buzz...It was like everybody was anticipating him and then the next thing we know he's dealing with a rich white woman and then we never hear from him again...He's very smart. I trust that wherever he is he's providing for his seed and he's okay."

Strong words from Saigon.

[VladTV]