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Benzino had a surprising emotional reaction when discussing his ongoing feud with Eminem.
Per Complex’s Joe Price, the two rappers have had beef ever since Benzino accused Eminem of appropriating hip-hop culture in 2002. Their issues were reignited once again in 2022 when Em was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It didn’t help matters when Benzino’s daughter, Coi Leray, spoke out in defense of Eminem shortly after.
Benzino made a guest appearance on a new episode of Drink Champs published on Saturday and recalled the origins of the feud.
“Fuck Eminem and fuck everybody down with Eminem,” said Benzino at the 46:11 mark. “My thing is this, that n***a won’t face me.”
“I know he ain’t gone fight me,” he added. “I know that, but how about I’ll battle that n***a … How about we put this to bed, three round battle, where me and him battle rap, we have minutes, and we battle. How about that? Just battle, no violence. After that we can hug it out and let this shit be over."
Later in the interview, Benzino, growing progressively more passionate as he denounced Eminem’s hip-hop credibility, referred to him as a "Rap Elvis" and cited his own lived experiences with violence and racism while residing in Boston.
“You think Boston’s a joke? Boston ain’t no fucking joke … Surviving Boston with the racism and the motherfucking gang shit in Boston since ‘85?,” he says at the 49 minute mark.
“Hip-hop is the blood that we lose, like them young n***as in Chicago and everywhere else, they killing each other and it’s over hip-hop. Hip-hop is who we are, he can’t come in and invade hip-hop and Rosenberg, and make trillions of dollars. This n***a didn’t even go to [Nipsey Hussle’s] funeral, bro. If he’s so fucking hip-hop, how come he ain’t block 10 blocks in motherfucking Detroit and give it to the homeless Black people. Man, fuck Eminem, bro.”
Benzino’s tone took a more emotional turn further into the interview, when he broke down and cried, saying, “I don’t have nothing against Eminem. Em can rap, but I care about us more. I don’t want to talk about it no more.”
“For 22 years, every time I do an interview they ask me about Eminem. The fuck you want me to do? Come on, man. I love my daughter, I raised my daughter like any other street n***a …," he said. "My daughter came to into the industry figuring that ‘Hey, I gotta be cool with Eminem because everybody’s against my dad.’ You think this shit is fucking cool? Nah, man. We’re failing as a people.”
Before excusing himself from the remainder of the episode, the rapper began a tangent, tearfully reflecting on how the Black community continues to “disrespect” and “kill” each other, saying, “We got to love each other. Let’s love each other, stop fronting for the ‘gram and love each other.”
Check out the full Drink Champs interview with Benzino up top.
