The list of executives, music industry folk, and rappers Eminem has had some beef with includes The Source's former co-owner, Benzino. He reflected on his feud with Slim Shady during his recent appearance on Drink Champs.
"At that time, I felt deep about what I was standing for," Benzino said at the interview's 39-minute mark. "My thing is hip-hop is the only thing that made white people come to the culture, buy into the culture, spend money, and also interact with the culture through hip-hop."
Their rift started when Benzino referred to Eminem as the "2003 Vanilla Ice." This prompted Marshall to berate Benzino and The Source on several records. Benzino responded with two diss tracks of his own, "Pull Your Skirt Up" and "Die Another Day."
Although he denies being a part of the magazine's review process, he admits that the only time he gave himself "the mics" was during the Eminem fiasco. Benzino's believes Eminem is parodying the artform he loves.
"Eminem is not in the culture that I'm from," Benzino explains. "That's not a bad thing. I'm not mad at that.... He grew up where there weren't a lot of black people."
Prior to striking it big with Dr. Dre, Eminem was a staple at Detroit's Hip-Hop Shop, where he cut his teeth by battling against some of the most potent artists in the city before becoming Slim Shady.
