In a new interview, after explaining that 'hip-hop is more than just rap, it's a culture,' the former 'LHH: Atlanta' star insists that the 'Marshall Mathers' spitter 'is not in the culture that I'm from.'
- Oct 22, 2019
AceShowbiz - Benzino recently stopped by REVOLT TV's "Drink Champs" to talk about many things, including his feud with rapper Eminem. During the 2-hour interview, The Source's former co-owner discussed his feeling when he was beefing with Slim Shady in addition to talking about his controversial tenure at the magazine.
Denying that he gave his own music generous ratings and reviews, he revealed to hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, "The only time I gave myself the mics was the Eminem situation. I felt like at that point -- because it was me against the staff, me against everybody. At that point, I was like f**k everybody. I was in a dark place where I felt like I'm standing for something that's right. I know deep down what I'm standing for, it's just not rapping. But I just felt like nobody backed me."
"I had to learn this the hard way: you can't look at the industry to be righteous. You can't look at them to be revolution," he went on saying. "It's about making money. At that point, maybe because I was already making money, I just took it for granted 'cause I didn't have to answer to nobody. I was at the top of the food chain at The Source."
When asked if he would handle the Eminem beef the same way if he was given a second chance, Benzino responded, "It's hard to say. At that time, I felt deep about what I was standing for." He later explained, "My thing was hip-hop-- and I always said this and people have heard it before -- hip-hop was the only thing that made white people come to the culture, buy into the culture, spend money and also interact with the culture through hip-hop. Nothing else has happened that brought white people to black people then that."
"So, I felt like once they get a white rapper … that white people want to buy him, then they f**k with that balance. 'Cause now white people will just f**k with him because of his skin color. Before they had to f**k with us 'cause that's the music," he continued. "I didn't feel that way about the Beastie Boys. I didn't feel that way about 3rd Bass. With Eminem, I just felt like OK, hip-hop is big now. It's pop now and white people are buying into it. Now, we need a white person to represent the white people. And that's just what happened. What I said happened, happened."
After explaining that "hip-hop is more than just rap, it's a culture," the former "Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta" star insisted that the "Marshall Mathers" spitter "is not in the culture that I'm from." He added, "That's not a bad thing. I'm not mad at that. A lot of people ain't. But he's not. We're not from the same cultures. He grew up one way, I grew up a whole different way. That's what I mean, culture. He grew up where there was not too many black people and growing up around black people and how we live."
