The Greatest Story Never Told is the debut studio album by American rapper Saigon, released February 15, 2011 on Suburban Noize Records.
The album was initially scheduled to be released in 2007, but experienced numerous delays due to issues with Saigon's previous label Atlantic Records.
Upon its release, The Greatest Story Never Told received rave reviews from music critics and hip hop publications, who complimented the album's intellectual lyrics, soulful production, and overall cohesiveness.
[3] 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.
[3] He later recalled how his early excitement at signing to the same label that "had so much history with black music, like Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles" was quickly dampened when they suggested he record a radio-friendly song with the Miami-based R&B quartet, Pretty Ricky.
[3] Despite not having an official album out, Saigon gradually became somewhat of a high-profile hip hop artist, as he appeared on the covers of several magazines and had a recurring role playing himself on the hit HBO show Entourage.
[3] On June 1, 2007, Saigon posted a blog entry on his Myspace stating that he felt Atlantic Records didn't have the desire to release his album because he is a real artist, not a "jingle writer", and they only care about the money, not the music.
He stated that he was not offended by the blog but just didn't understand why Saigon would post it now when the only thing holding up the album release was a sample clearance for the single "C'mon Baby", which Craig Kallman — president of Atlantic — was personally handling.
[11] In an interview with hiphopgame.com, Just Blaze explained various reasons behind the numerous delays of The Greatest Story Never Told, the most prominent being that he wished to establish a relationship with Saigon before creating an album.
[13] Saigon claims that he's never been given a definitive reason why Atlantic refused to release the album, but on the song "Believe It", he raps, "They rather me pretend to be something that I'm not/I'm the new Public Enemy, I'm different than Young Joc.
Saigon's background as an ex-con lends specificity and direction to his social criticism: He's a battle-tested survivor singling out the injustices and hypocrisy of a world filled with prisons and traps, real and metaphorical.
[3] Chad Grischow from IGN praised the album's themes and message, and wrote that "it is the balance of uplifting, positive energy and gritty realism that makes this debut work so well.
"[24] Although stating "there are references to events like Katrina, that, while certainly not irrelevant, are not quite as much in the musical parlance as they were a couple of years prior" and being unfavorable toward several of the songs' long lengths, Marisa Brown from Allmusic extolled producer Just Blaze's contributions, commenting, "Blaze has always been a very involved, musically attuned producer, and his attention to detail is evident here, from the alarm clock motif to the way he transitions between tracks.