Why benzino left the source

Editor in chief Allah, a member of an Islam-based religious group called Nation of Gods and Earth, did discuss his arrest. An ambitious cover story package in the December issue considers the impact of the criminal-justice system on hip-hop. Multiplying problems have affected how advertisers perceive The Source. Fewer people, it appears, are reading The Source.

Textron in its lawsuit asserts that Source circulation hovers around ,—half of what it was two years ago. As Wired was to geeks, as Deneuve was to dykes, so The Source was to the hip-hop generation. Subjects that mattered to black kids and wannabes were given regular, serious treatment. Dennis, one of the first music editors.

It was young black people speaking their minds—people who had never been given the opportunity to speak. Trouble began in November —when The Source was at its zenith. It came in the form of a long, fawning profile of the Almighty RSO, a rap group fronted by Benzino, the big-mouthed Boston rapper who would later reveal himself as co-owner of the magazine.

Mays felt his sidekick deserved some press; the Source staff disagreed. There was an editorial-side exodus, with the highly regarded editor in chief James Bernard writing an emotional resignation letter to the hip-hop community. Obvious cronyism and erratic critical standards have continuously afflicted its music reviews department.

But more than the internal scandals, it was the relentless campaign against Eminem that turned off readers. In , Scott worked tirelessly to persuade readers that the rapper is a bigot, backing up the charges by playing old recordings to reporters featuring a year-old Eminem disparaging black women and big butts and niggas.

Eminem responded with an apology and an explanation: He said he wrote the lyrics because he was pissed off over a breakup with a black girl. The confession turned the controversy into old news, but not to Benzino. The endless Eminem vitriol also proved costly—music ads from Def Jam and Interscope disappeared.

Judging from the allegations, the Chelsea offices sorely needed a Foxy Brown character to kick in the door and beat the hell out of the misogynist idiots described in the documents. For a man that could mean being put in a state of fear. For a woman—going to work each day being called a whore.

Many female former Source employees agree that the office is exhaustingly sexist, but not all women in the hip-hop world are willing to let Osorio completely off the hook. She was the editor in chief when the magazine, many observers have noted, grew exponentially more shallow and sexist. I was believing my hype too much. Worse, it made enemies out of not only Eminem but out of Dr.

Dre, 50 Cent and Interscope Records as well. That was huge. Thanks for signing up! We get it: you like to have control of your own internet experience. But advertising revenue helps support our journalism. To read our full stories, please turn off your ad blocker. We'd really appreciate it. View author archive follow on twitter Get author RSS feed. Name required. Email required. Comment required. Enlarge Image. Benzino Getty Images.

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