BENZINO
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Benzino has defended R. Kelly, stating he shouldn’t have gotten so much jail time for sexual abuse charges, leaving social media to blast his stance online.As R. Kelly continues to serve time in prison for child sex abuse charges including sex trafficking, Benzino has turned heads with asking why the disgraced singer is receiving such harsh punishment. The rapper and former co-founder of The Source voiced his opinion during the April 24 episode of his We In Miami Podcast. At the 12-minute mark of the episode, Benzino cites the fact that the age of consent in most states in America is at 16. “Again, the legal age is 16 years old,” Benzino said. “Does that make it right if a n—a does it? Yes or no?” After everyone collectively agreed it was “wrong” and “disgusting”, Benzino continued.
“Alright but it’s legal in America,” Benzino said. “Why the f—k is R. Kelly doing all this time? You know why because they’re 14 and 13. Two years younger. But you don’t think that the people who cleared it for 16 years old didn’t know that they were f—king with 13, 14-year-olds, too. For the age that young to be the law, you already know they goin’ under that. I’m not condoning with little girls, it’s sick. Alright, it’s sick, but I don’t think R. Kelly should rot in jail for 30 years either.”
The video went viral, with some bizarrely agreeing with Benzino, but many more blasting the Boston native for his comments given the heinous nature of R. Kelly’s crimes. Since the clip hit social media on Wednesday (May 1), the fallout has been constant with Benzino’s daughter Coi Leray emphatically distancing herself from him in posts on X, formerly Twitter. “I want everybody to know I want nothing to do with anything my father has going on,” she wrote. “I haven’t spoken to him in over a year and I don’t condone or respect any of them interviews he got going on. I don’t respect his decisions and I really want nothing to do with him please don’t even think of me when you see him.”
Check out some of the more bristling comments directed at Benzino below.
1. Uncle Demi
2. Mum Afrah
3. Kwintarget
4. Destroy Nectar
5. Vernj76
6. Vonshell Morgan
7. Nasa McMahon
8. Gullah Geechee Goddess
9. Sassington, M.C.
10. Alonzo Lerone
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At some point, it needs to be acknowledged that the main reason the two-decade-old beef between Benzino and Eminem refuses to die is that Benzino refuses to stop talking about it.
It was just last month that the “Who Is Benzino?” rapper had a tearful emotional breakdown on the set of Drink Champs because he was supposedly tired of talking about his Caucasian rival, who he said he “don’t have a problem with” at the time. But then he was right back to trading jabs with Slim Shady soon after. Now, the 58-year-old is taking his beef with Em to the latter’s home city of Detroit and posting on Instagram photos and footage of himself at Em’s “Mom’s Spaghetti” Italian cuisine restaurant, where he bought bags of food just so he could tell his followers that the spaghetti was “horrible.”
“Mark this date. #Rapelvis Video soon come……oh the [spaghetti] was horrible,” Zino captioned a photo posted to IG that showed him flipping the bird at the logo of Em’s restaurant. Apparently, the former Mad Men member didn’t think there was anything counterintuitive about spending his money on food from Em’s eatery—which essentially puts it in the Music to be Murdered By rapper’s pocket—while giving the restaurant free advertising.
From Vibe:
Zino also uploaded various other clips from behind the scenes of his music video, showing him launching more disrespect at Em’s establishment. The former The Source owner is seen ordering bags of food from the spot. In another clip, he takes a bite from a pint-size spaghetti order before chucking it in disgust. Another clip features the 58-year-old Hip-Hop figure stealing one of the store’s signs.
Meanwhile, outside of an occasional diss track, Em appears to be far less invested in this beef than Zino is. So, you know, maybe it’s time to let it go, bruh.
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Benzino found himself back in the conversation on the heels of the still-brewing feud he’s been engaged in for years with Eminem and he elaborated on the beef in a recent stop on the set of Drink Champs. During the chat, Benzino appears to have an emotional breakdown behind his ongoing battle with Eminem, causing some to believe he was intoxicated during the moment.
Benzino, reportedly 58, and Eminem, 51, have been throwing verbal jabs at one another over the years with Slim Shady starting this year’s salvo on “Doomsday Pt. 2” from Lyrical Lemonade’s All Is Yellow compilation album. On that track, Em took shots at the Boston music executive and his daughter, rapper Coi Leray.
Shortly after, Benzino returned fire with “Rap Elvis” and has been goading Em to verbally retaliate but nothing has occurred thus far. However, during his Drink Champs chat with N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN, ‘Zino comes clean and says that he doesn’t really have a true issue with Eminem and would even welcome a chat, something he’s expressed before.
“I don’t have nothing against Eminem. He can rap but I care about us more. I don’t want to talk about it no more,” He said. “My daughter came to industry figuring ‘I gotta be cool with Eminem because everybody is against my dad.’”
For those who witnessed the moment in question, some have voiced concern for Benzino while others are hoping the two will finally move on beyond their issues and have that long-awaited face-to-face conversation.
Check out the reactions from X below. The full podcast episode is also listed below.
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Photo: Prince Williams / Getty
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There is still an obvious strain between Benzino and Coi Leray. He has denied that he is jealous of his daughter’s success she alleged he is envious of her.
As spotted on HipHopDX the emerging Rap talent recently paid a visit to the Angie Martinez IRL podcast. While Coi discussed a variety of topics regarding her ascent to fame it was her response regarding her father that soon went viral. When asked how the Made Men member is handling her stardom the “Players” rapper revealed she has seen some signs of envy. “At first it was rocky because I felt like he couldn’t handle my success I felt like it it did come from an envious place which is OK cuz he’s human and it’s fine,” she explained. “But I felt like he’s one of those people that feels like, ‘Yo, like I still have a story to tell.’ You know, I still feel like something I have to say something.” She went on to add “Like, nooo. But he’s like, ‘I have to say something”.
XXL Magazine reports that the clip eventually landed on Benzino’s radar and he responded on social media on a post dated Saturday, November 11. “This has to be the most ridiculous [poop emoji] I’ve heard in my entire life on this earth. How tf can be envious towards someone I RAISED, NUTURED, PROVIDED FOR, INFLUENCED AND LOVE VERY DEARLY???,” he wrote. He went on to further express his frustration towards Coi’s logic. “In my 40 years in hip hop I’ve never ever seen an artist DOG their parents out the was Coi does and it’s embarrassing and sad…and one last thing, @angiemartinez knows she doesn’t like me so she’s just being manipulative and messy,” he added.
He continued his rant that it clear that he will not tolerate any more disrespect of his name. “They want me crash out but I’ve worked on myself so hard that I ain’t going backwards for ANYTHING, but what I won’t do is allow ANYONE to slander my name and push a false narrative on my reputation and who I am. I’ve shed too many blood, sweat and tears, survived street wars and indictments. Nope no more”.
You can watch the Angie Martinez and Coi Leray interview below.
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Benzino has finally confirmed that he did deny Eminem a five-mic review in The Source as their beef raged in the 2000s.
The veteran rapper and co-founder of the magazine from Boston made the admission during his appearance on the My Expert Opinion podcast hosted by Math Hoffa. “I was the top of my muthafuckin’ food chain,” Benzino began. “Even [Russell Simmons], Lyor [Cohen], all these ni**as, Steve [Stoute] and everybody, they all had to answer to somebody. I was the top of a damn near $75 million company when ni**as wasn’t getting money like that. I got that big money first, and I was the top of that.”
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Benzino continued: “So, when the Eminem thing came through The Source, at this point, it’s getting disrespectful,” he said, addressing his issues with Eminem also known as Marshall Mathers. “So how the f**k am I gonna have this ni**a in my magazine? Would you? You’re not gonna put nobody in your magazine to give this ni**a five mics after this ni**a’s being disrespectful. You wouldn’t do it, man. Nobody would.”
Before the feud, The Source had been a strong supporter of Eminem, giving him acclaim in their “Unsigned Hype” column in 1998. The magazine would follow that up by giving a 4.5 mic rating to The Marshall Mathers LP album in 2000. But things soured when The Eminem Show was blocked from receiving the coveted five-mic review. “When the ‘Unsigned Hype’ column in The Source was like our only source of light/ When the mics used to mean somethin,’ a four was like/ You were the sh*t, now it’s like the least you get/ Three-and-a-half now just means you’re a piece of sh*t/ Four-and-a-half or five means you’re Biggie, Jigga, Nas,” Eminem said on “The Sauce.”
He’d elaborate further and mention Benzino by name: “Or Benzino — sh*t, I don’t even think you realize/ You’re playin’ with muthaf**kas’ lives/ I done watched Dre get f**ked on The Chronic/ Probably ‘cause I was on it/ Now you f**ked me out of my mics twice, I let it slide.”
For Benzino, there’s still animosity between the two, which he touched upon in a series of posts on X, formerly known as Twitter, last February. “To all you p—y ass Stans, we all know y’all are the most corniest non violent coward fan base hip hop has ever seen,” he wrote at the time. “I have a restaurant in Atlanta 5071 Peachtree Industrial Boulevard Chamblee GA. stop tweeting and pull up on me you p—ies.”
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