With all the hoopla surrounding the rating for Little Brother’s upcoming album The Minstrel Show, it seems as if a certain publication has had a change of heart. In a recent interview with Ray Benzino, the man’s story differs somewhat from Fahyim’s.
When asked what had happened with the Little Brother album. Benzino told www.hiphopgame.com that the 4 ½ rating would remain but that the story goes far deeper than that…
“…actually, it’s kind of a shame because it seems that everyone who gets in that position, it’s almost like it’s a curse at that position because they start out working with the powers that be, and all of a sudden they start taking turns. Fahiym had mentioned that he wanted to give Little Brother 4½, and I said that was all right. But at the same time, I think that Fahiym and his music editor didn’t give Young Jeezy justice, and that’s what you’re not hearing. They gave Young Jeezy a “Mic Check.” I don’t think he really understood the whole movement of Young Jeezy, and that’s the whole paradox of the job. To be honest, I haven’t even heard Little Brother. But as far as Fahiym wanting to give him 4½, I have no problem with that. And they’re still getting 4½. It’s just that when you’re paying attention to Little Brother, you also have to pay attention to what Young Jeezy is bringing to the table with his movement, and to me, that’s where the conflict started. It really wasn’t so much of Little Brother getting 4½, because when the next issue comes out, they’re still getting 4½. We never changed it. It was just an issue where we felt that he probably didn’t look at the Young Jeezy situation as thorough as he should have, and I just think there was a conflict up there where he didn’t feel comfortable with the decisions being made up there. And that’s in every business, but I think it’s magnified more because it’s The Source. Either the boss isn’t happy, or somebody that works there isn’t happy, and you have to go on with your life. I wish Fahiym a lot of luck. I know when he was there, he definitely contributed a lot to the magazine and to The Source being the number one newsstand magazine out there.
So who’s story do you believe?
