Back when he was affiliated with The Source magazine, contemplative and philosophical were probably the last adjectives you would think of to describe Raymond “Benzino” Scott. But now, seven years since being deposed from the Hip-Hop magazine, the “Rock The Party” rapper is reflective about his tumultuous, yet relatively successful, time at the publication; and isn’t pointing any fingers at other people for causing the drama.
“I was a kid from the streets when I met Dave (Mays) and I was really introduced into the publication life and the daily operations magazine life, but that wasn’t me,” Benzino told Hip-Hop Wired. “I love Hip-Hop, I love doing music, rapping and producing but I was also out in the streets and I was getting my hustle on and dealing with stuff that’s in the streets, so, it was a transition. When The Source was at it’s top and it’s height, even within all the controversy, I really didn’t have to answer to nobody. It was like it stopped there with me. So a lot of the situations that occurred was I may have used the magazine as a platform to voice what I was thinking. ”
Benzino’s thoughts resulted in friction and sometimes all out feuds with rappers (Eminem), labels (Interscope) and even writers (way too many to name) [Full Disclosure: This writer contributed to The Source during Benzino’s tenure]. But the Boston native now sees the err of at least some of his ways, which included greenlighting an infamous pull-out poster in the magazine that depicted Em’s spine being ripped from his body.
The Boston native now says, “In this industry you really have to be politically correct. It’s not always the right thing to be, but you gotta understand it’s the industry that you in. And some of the stuff that you say, you really don’t realize how it affects people.”
Check more of Benzino’s chat with Hip-Hop Wired below.
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Photo: Hip-Hop Wired
