Saigon has opened up about his previous beef with Mobb Deep, telling the group’s producer Havoc that the Queens duo took half of his fans away during the fallout.
The two artists sat down with VladTVand Saigon mentioned Mobb Deep and their undeniable influence on the culture in the mid-’90s. According to The Greatest Story Never Told rapper, half of his fanbase jumped ship during their beef in the early to mid-2000s.
“That’s why when I look at the segue into y’all career, right, Mobb Deep is one of the best groups of all time hands down,” Saigon said. “I lost half my fanbase when we had that fight, bro.”
Havoc laughed off the statement and gave Saigon a dap telling him all those fans came back to him now that the beef is over. The Brooklyn native acknowledged the sentiment and let the fans know at home that everything is good because they’ve since patched things up.
Saigon had a pretty eventful beef with Mobb Deep that started with Prodigy allegedly taking $15,000 from his friend and rapper Tru Life. The story goes that P did a verse for Tru, got paid and allegedly did the same verse for another rapper.
Tru took matters into his own hands and claimed he pressed Mobb Deep in a studio with guns in tow. Saigon got involved in defending his close friend and physically fought Mobb Deep at SOBs in New York City in 2007.
Saigon managed to patch things up with the Mobb even before Prodigy passed away in June 2017 due complications stemming from his sickle cell diagnosis. P was performing in Las Vegas in June 2017 as part of The Art of Rap Tour alongside Ghostface Killah, Onyx, KRS-One and the festival’s founder, Ice-T.
After Mobb Deep performed in extreme temperatures, he was taken to a local hospital where he ultimately died. His team explained in a statement at the time, “It is with extreme sadness and disbelief that we confirm the death of our dear friend Albert Johnson, better known to millions of fans as Prodigy of legendary NY rap duo Mobb Deep.
“Prodigy was hospitalized a few days ago in Vegas after a Mobb Deep performance for complications caused by a sickle cell anemia crisis. As most of his fans know, Prodigy battled the disease since birth. The exact causes of death have yet to be determined. We would like to thank everyone for respecting the family’s privacy at this time.”