HOTT AND RAW EXCLUSIVES: BENZINO

// May 27th, 2009 // Hott and Raw Exclusives

a: have you ever officially squashed your beef with eminem?

Benzino replies, “Beef is when physical harm come into play! ... That’s the beef I know!”

By John Charles Reedburg (CEO/Publisher/Executive-Producer)

Q: Out of all the years that you’ve been in the industry as an artist and as a business man, what have you learned about hip-hop?

A: “I’ve learned that hip-hop changes quickly.”

Benzino – during an exclusive interview with Datzhott.com

Most people know BENZINO as part owner of The Source Magazine and for his highly publicized beef with Eminem. However, they’ll soon know him for a couple of other reasons.

The hip-hop artist, producer and entrepreneur has released his new single “DJ Turn It Up” which is the first single from Benzino’s new album, scheduled for release Summer 2009. The album includes the tracks “Amazing,” “Been There, Done That” featuring Shawty Lo, “Secret,” featuring Ray J and N.O.R.E., and also introduces his Miami-based crew, The 1st 48, consisting of Cognito, One Monzta and Lil Dev. `

In this Hott and Raw Exclusive, DATZHOTT! caught up with Benzino to not only discuss his new group,  the beef with Eminem, and his new magazine Hip-Hop Weekly, but also, his feelings about having a son who’s currently following his footsteps as a rapper.

After listening to the interview above, be sure to check below and watch the video by Benzino’s new group, 1^st 48.

Fans and supporters wanting to stay in contact with Benzino can do so via TWITTER.

WHAT’s HOTT!!! ABOUT BENZINO!?!

A legacy that never stops expanding!

After being recruited by platinum hit maker Teddy Riley to start his solo career, Benzino released his first album, The Benzino Project, on Motown Records in 2000. That album spawned the hit songs “Bootee” and “Bang Ta Dis,” and included collaborations with P Diddy, Scarface, Snoop Dogg, Pink, Bobby Brown and Raekwon. The album also featured “Shine Like My Son,” with Benzino and his 8-year-old son Ray Ray trading rhymes on a song paying tribute to the special bonds shared between fathers and sons. The accompanying video clip featured a host of Hip Hop fathers with their sons: Jadakiss, Master P, Treach, Guru, Zab Judah, Jam Master Jay of Run DMC and many others.

In 2003, music industry legend Sylvia Rhone signed Benzino to Elektra Records, and he released his second solo project, Redemption, which featured “Rock The Party,” as well as collaborations with Fabolous, Jadakiss, Wyclef, Lil Kim and Busta Rhymes. It was his infamous battle with Eminem that took center stage in Hip Hop in 2004, as Benzino stood his ground against the world’s most popular rapper in a battle for the ages. Benzino has also been a producer for many years, with tracks from his Hangmen 3 Productions appearing on albums from Nas, Mobb Deep and several other hip hop stars.

Raised in the Four Corners neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, Benzino’s formative years were spent in the Academy Homes projects. His father, at the time a “made man” in the New England area, taught him the importance of loyalty, while his mother, a postal worker, taught love. These lessons, added to Benzino’s natural ability to persevere and constantly steer toward success.

At age 9 he painted and sold rocks for $1. That first business evolved into selling lemonade and later into street to hustling to make money to buy production equipment and studio time. In 1991, as part of the rap group Almighty RSO with DJ Jeff 2X, Tony Rhome, and Antonio 2G, Benzino released a single “One In Tha Chamba” on Tommy Boy Records and later signed the group to an album deal with Rap A Lot Records. His second crew, Made Men released the critically acclaimed Classic Limited Edition on Restless Records in 1999.

Along with David Mays, his partner for over 20 years, Benzino is well-known for being 50% of the biggest magazine in hip hop history, The Source, which was launched in 1988 as a single sheet newsletter out of Mays Harvard University dorm room. In the 1990’s, The Source became the #1 selling music magazine on newsstands in the world, with sales of over 5 million copies per year. Benzino and Mays went on to expand the brand well beyond the pages of the magazine, establishing a stable of media companies around The Source.

They produced some of the highest-rated TV programs for a hip hop audience ever, including the 2004 broadcast of The Source Awards, which ranks as the 6th highest-rated show in the history of the BET network, and The Source All Access, a weekly entertainment TV show that was aired in syndication. They developed the most successful series of hip hop compilation albums in the history of the music industry, selling over 5 million copies of The Source presents Hip Hop Hits. “Rarely has a magazine played a more dynamic role in the culture it reflected than The Source.

Throughout the ’90s, the magazine had the first and last word in rap,” said GQ Magazine in a story in their 50th anniversary which named The Source as one of the “27 Things That Changed Men’s Lives” over the last 50 years.

In January 2007 David Mays and Ray Scott founded Hip Hop Weekly, the first celebrity magazine directed to a hip-hop loving audience. Hip Hop Weekly has grown steadily since its inception, and is now the #1 selling urban entertainment magazine on newsstands in the U.S. In October 2007 Hip Hop Weekly was recognized by the prestigious MIN Awards as one of the top 15 new magazines of the year, out of more than 700 startups.

Benzino’s impact on hip hop (in borrowing from Rick Ross latest album title) is indeed – “Deeper Than Rap”. While showing the hip hop community that there are other forms of business outside of the record label. He helped illustrate how hip hop can expand. Through demonstrating us that the voice of hip-hop can not only be heard through music, but also perceived through other forms of media.

Think about it. If The Source Magazine never existed, would there have ever been an XXL. Vibe Magazine? Or better yet, Hip-Hop Weekly? Maybe? … Maybe not? Many will argue!

Video for 1^st 48 – “N**gas Don’t Know”