Unofficial Guide to the Saigon & Joe Budden Beef.

We all love beef. How could you not? It's enticing. It begs for our attention. Even vegetarians can't deny it's alluring qualities...

So for the past few weeks Joe Budden and Saigon have been going back and forth, throwing jabs, and dissing each other on wax mp3, blogs, radio, and internet videos. To me, the shit is straight comedy. So being the investigative cat that I am, I decided to do some research and put together the Unofficial Guide to the Saigon & Joe Budden Beef. This is so all of you at home can follow along and keep score. Pencils up.

Now to understand any good beef, you need to understand it's roots. Why do these dudes hate each other? What is driving them? At the start of almost any beef is either (A) a woman, (B) money, (C) a diss, or (D) a perceived diss. In this case, if you said "D" you would be correct. Give yourself a point. This whole thing started way back in November 2007 over a perceived diss, follow along....

During a BET freestyle, "Jump Off" Joe Budden dropped a punchline in which he referenced a newly infamous Saigon and Mobb Deep altercation at SOBs in which Saigon punched Prodigy and ran out the door. Here's the Budden line that set it off:

"As soon as the wife's gone, they jump on the python/
She ain't know I'm out to Hit and Run, like I'm Saigon. (c) Joe Budden

Was it a diss? Joe says no, but Saigon took it as one, and that's where our story begins.

Later that month, Saigon went on the air with Lip Service on Shade45 Radio and gave a drunk interview in which he talked about all kinds of fuckery including running after the Mobb Deep fight, Prodigy's jail time, and then threatened to slap Nelly. Oh, and punching girls in the face. He was obviously catching feelings about Joe's line. So the next day, Budden called into Real Late with Peter Rosenberg to talk about Saigon. This was step one in getting the beef cooking.

So some back and forth shit talking went down in various interviews, and the beef seemed to linger, marinate if you will. But nobody said anything on wax. Saigon threatened to kick Joe's ass. Joe Budden always kind of ignored it, acting like Sai wasn't even worth it. Talk, talk, talk.


Fast forward to last week [>>]


Joe Budden put out a song called "Letter to Saigon" to address the beef and clear up the confusion.

Joe Budden - "Letter To Saigon"

However, it didn't clear anything up at all. In fact, it only made Saigon madderister. He appeared in a video promising to battle Joe Budden, and then proceed to beat him up at first sight.


Well, Saigon kept his word and started the battle. He responded with a Budden diss, and that sparked this whole thing. The onslaught of diss tracks and responses bombarded the internet. Here they all are in order...


Saigon - "Underachiever" (ft. Prodigy)(Joe Budden Diss)

Highlights include shots at Budden's bad breath, his album flopping, claims of other men sleeping with his girlfriend, threats of beatdowns, and accusations of Joe's son being gay. Topped off with a soundbite of Prodigy saying Joe Budden sucks.


Joe Budden - "Pain In His Life" (Saigon Diss)

Joe fires back with a punchline riddled track and pretty much destroys everything Sai said. Highlights include poking fun at his appearance on Entourage, his relationship with Just Blaze, and jail stint with the line: "He went in a tight end and came out a wide receiver."


Saigon - "Pushin’ Buddens" (Joe Budden Diss)

Saigon jumps some classic Wu beats and ups the ante. Highlights include claims that Joe bit lines, Joe getting dropped for Def Jam, more gay son references, more beat down claims, and then jumping on Joe's "Pump It Up" beat.

That brings you up to speed. Joey says he's not finished. He's got something planned for Saigon. And really, this could go on forever. So who do you think is winning this battle? Is this battle even worth all the attention? Does anyone even care? All this beef is making me hungry.



*all music links courtesy of Nah Right.