Over the past two weeks, one of the best battles in recent memory has been waged over the internet: Saigon vs. Joe Budden. It went four rounds, a lot of dope punchlines were exchanged and it all ended… ah well, you’ll have to read to the end to figure out what happened.

The Participants:

Saigon – Yeah, you know that guy that plays a guy named Saigon on Entourage. Signed to Atlantic Records through Just Blaze’s Fort Knocks imprint, we have been waiting for his debut The Greatest Story Never Told for years. An ex-convict with the cartoonish muscular physique to prove it, Saigon has been involved in a few real life beefs over the years: he was stabbed after a failed chain-jack a few years back, and of course there is the infamous incident where he socked Mobb Deep’s Prodigy in the head and ran (more on that later).

“Stocking Cap” is a banger!

Joe Budden – Yes, the Joe Budden of Pump It Up Fame. Signed to Amalgam Digital with an album that was supposed to drop like two years ago, this man has been in more beef than anybody in the past five years or so. Didn’t he just end that cold war style beef with Royce? Or what about that shit with Ransom? Yall went back and forth for a year! And wasn’t Jay-Z sending him subliminal shots? All the voyeurs out there can check out his life down to minutiae at joebuddentv.com. Yes, his girlfriend is hot, and no I would not let her go out to the club alone.

The Cause:

To preface the actual beef, a year ago, Saigon punched Mobb Deep’s Prodigy at a hip hop show and then ran. Here is the video:

Here is the second more manufactured video from Prodigy’s camp.

Now, I don’t think most people are faulting Saigon for running because he had like 5 people there versus Mobb Deep’s 40.

Going back to the Joe Budden/Saigon beef: Joe Budden apparently spit this line in a rap on his album Mood Muzik 3.

“As soon as the wife’s gone, they jump on the python/ but she don’t know that I’m about to hit and run like I’m Saigon.”

This is a factual line, because it’s exactly what Saigon did.

Still, Saigon didn’t like Budden saying his name in a rhyme, and thus the beef was born. Yes, one line can spark a world of drama:

The Shots:

First came the audio interviews. Saigon went on Shade 45′s Lip Service talking greasy on Budden. Saigon threatens to punch Budden in the face when he sees him. Budden did the same on a few radio shows on his own. Budden even admits that the line wasn’t really about anything, but at the same time says he would like to SEE Saigon punch him in the face.

Round One:

Finally, Budden released Letter to Saigon:

Notable lines:

“The greatest story never told wont be ever told
mixtapes never sold leak the shit let it go…”

“Frontin with conscience spittin about conscience living
i see conscience fiction from a contradiction…”

This dis hit a lot softer than when I first heard it. He says a lot of the obvious stuff you think one would say about Saigon.

Saigon responded with Under-Achiever:

Notable lines:

““I’m fittin’ to end his career, oh yeah, you had a point there
My album didn’t drop,but your album dropped and flopped,
so suck a cock, ock…”

“Forget about Ransom, come and see me,
I’ll lay your ass out right on Joe Budden TV..”

This is Saigon trying to make a song rather than a dis. The 50 inspired sing-song flow at the end is pretty hilarious, but in the end it still doesn’t hit as hard as the Budden dis.

Verdict: Joe Budden takes the first round,

Round Two:

Joe Budden comes pretty hard with Pain in His Life:

“Under-Achiever was an underachiever, thought might have come with the Ether!”

“Nigga I done made more money off Just Blaze than you did!”

“Please tell me why dude Just Blaze signed,
Can’t even get a Bass line out of Baseline.
Look at the new kid, sounding stupid,
Nigga, I made Just more money than YOU DID!”

“Here’s where the lies get deeper
went to jail a tight end and came out a wide receiver”

OUCH! Joey went hard on this one. That last line had me chuckling pretty hard.

“You got a little buzz on the message board,
but your shit is collecting dust in the record store.”

This one isn’t as quote-worthy, but Saigon comes pretty hard on this. He sounds hungry, which wasn’t the case for Joe. Plus he goes on a “letter J” tangent, following up the “letter p” song from back in the day. At the end, he rhymes over, admittedly the only Joe Budden song I know.

Still, I think Joe Budden got him in the end.

Verdict (and winner): Joe Budden

These guys have said repeatedly that the beef, at least on record, is over. Saigon however, continues to say that he is going to slap Joe Budden in the face when he sees him.

My money is on Saigon for the physical confrontation.