Benzino has finally admitted that his tenure at The Source wasn’t always smooth, calling himself an “asshole” during the time he helmed the legendary Hip Hop magazine.
In an interview with My Expert Opinion by Math Hoffa, which dropped on Thursday (August 24), the Love & Hip Hop star admitted that his bad reputation was one that was partially deserved.
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“I had to learn and grow into this because I did not grow up with this,” he said. “I grew up with other shit. So, I was an asshole sometimes. And I know that.”
He continued: “I wasn’t right. And that’s not the way to be. You know? You have to try to stay in your lane in certain things. But I was transitioning. And to this day […] people still think, you know, I’m that asshole.”
“I was the top of my muthafuckin’ food chain,” he said. “Even [Russell Simmons], Lyor [Cohen], all these n-ggas, Steve [Stoute] and everybody, they all had to answer to somebody.
“I was the top of a damn near $75 million company when n-ggas wasn’t getting money like that. I got that big money first and I was the top of that.”
He continued: “So when the Eminem thing came through The Source, at this point it’s getting disrespectful. So how the fuck am I gonna have this n-gga in my magazine? Would you?
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“You’re not gonna put nobody in your magazine to give this n-gga five mics after this n-ggas being disrespectful. You wouldn’t do it, man. Nobody would.”
And earlier this month, Benzino admitted in a different interview that he ran JAY-Z and Dame Dash out of The Source offices with armed goons.
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According to Benzino, the Roc-A-Fella co-founders came up to the magazine’s offices in New York City to complain about “a cover situation.” Little did they know, however, that seven of Benzino’s goons were lying in wait with guns at the ready.
“This one time, Jay and Dame was complaining about a cover situation, and they came up to The Source on some rah-rah shit,” he said. “So I had n-ggas strapped up in different rooms — they didn’t know that.
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“So they up there and started getting loud, because we just wanted them to think that Dave [Mays, co-founder of The Source] was up there with just one person.”
He continued: “Sure enough, it starts getting loud. N-ggas start coming out them rooms, and they had to get up out of there. There was a few of them, I think maybe three or four. But there was at least seven of us. There was at least seven guns up in The Source.
“Jay don’t get loud; it was Dame. They started getting loud with Dave and then, you know, ‘Aiight, enough is enough. That’s it. Y’all got to go.’ It’s nothing against Dame Dash — respect to Dame. But that happened.”
