Thursday, March 15   8:45 p.m.
401 Guadalupe
former Fox and Hound   (401 Guadalupe St)

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Born in Galveston, Texas, on September 11, 1979, Da Saint became the ninth of 11 children. Early in his childhood his family left Galveston and moved to what is known as one of Houston's roughest and toughest neighborhoods, Fifth Ward. Growing up in a religious household, he and his siblings went to church every Sunday. His mother, a Sunday school teacher, anointed the kids with blessed oil and quoted scriptures every morning before school. Agreeing with the Holy Bible, she believed and proclaimed to her children, "We will be the head and not the tail."



Adapting to his Houston surroundings, Jay Smith, a.k.a, Da Saint, learned early on that you're either in or you're out. As he grew a bit older he made money doing yardwork and would go to the local gas station and ask to pump customers' gas to earn a dime. To his pleasant surprise, they would usually give him a quarter. Later, he started helping his retired grandfather do handyman work for the widows in the area. His grandfather mostly did the labor for free but the little money he did charge he gave to Saint. The money the young rapper-to-be made was an honest wage but not enough to buy the latest kicks and gear that other kids had.



Da Saint may have gotten his start in the church, but he knew he wanted to be like the local drug dealers with gold chains around their necks and knots of money bulging in their pockets. So at the age of 12, his desire for material things led him to make his first drug deal. Although it wasn't satisfying, at the time his new career choice seemed rewarding. Two years later at the age of 14, Da Saint's mother died from a blood clot and fluid in her lungs. His older sister helped take over responsibilities for the household, but tragically three months after his mother passed away, his father died from a heart attack. Life became a whole new challenge and Da Saint ended up sleeping on the streets until he was picked up by the police and placed into foster care. While in foster homes, he managed to change his view on life and reach back toward the roots his mother taught him, but somehow at the age of 17, Saint found himself out of foster care and displaced back on the same streets he had been picked up from. Not yet old enough to enroll in school, he went to find a job to support himself.



After he saved up enough money to buy a car, that same car became the car he slept in at empty grocery store parking lots. Although times were hard and seemed to worsen, Saint kept his roots in the church and never missed a Sunday service, prayer meeting on Tuesdays, and Wednesday's youth service. To help keep him on track, an outreach pastor named Dennis Rogers took Saint under his wing, and to this day, Da Saint fondly refers to him as "Pop." Rogers later connected Da Saint with boxing champion Evander Holyfield (Real Deal Records), and both men helped Da Saint transition from a teen in the streets to a man with a vision for his life. Saint often says, "It's funny how God took one dad away from me and gave me two, and it started my new beginning, my new life." Now Da Saint's bringing new vitality to the music industry and to his fans all over the world. He may be battered and bruised, but Da Saint stands strong and marches on to a new beat!



In addition to being a renowned song-writer and performer, Saint is the Co-Founder of New South Records, and oversees all Artist Development and areas of strategy and planning.