Benzino is getting into the film business and says he is making a documentary about the historic 1995 Source Awards.
The event, which was co-organized by Benzino, was infamous for escalating the East Coast-West Coast rivalry of the mid ’90s, mainly thanks to Suge Knight mocking Diddy and Bad Boy Records while collecting his award for Motion Picture Soundtrack of the Year.
The tension in the room was later fueled by Snoop Dogg, who lashed out at the New York City crowd for booing him when he and Dr. Dre — who were, of course, both signed to Death Row Records at the time — graced the stage to accept Dre’s Producer of the Year award.
“The East Coast ain’t got no love Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg and Death Row?! Y’all don’t love us?!” he asked incredulously. “Well, let it be known then!”
Meanwhile, André 3000 put the often-overlooked “Third Coast” on his back by famously declaring: “The South got something to say” when OutKast received a less-than-warm reception after winning New Group of the Year.
Speaking to TMZ this week, Benzino revealed he was working on a documentary about this fateful night.
He said: “I’m almost finished with my documentary that I’ve been working on for the last year. It’s going to really show people how that night changed Hip Hop forever.
“I got to interview a lot of people who were there that night but I can’t speak too much on it ’cause it’s not completed yet.”
The former publisher of The Source magazine also admitted to feeling “nervous” at the awards show: “When Suge said that, I was standing right there on the side of the stage. I was nervous because he flew out about 100 people that night, he spent about $50,000 for his set.”
He added: “We just gotta thank the Hip Hop gods that no violence took place that night. Because that wasn’t the only beef; there were other situations that night. Unfortunately, we lost the two giants and that changed Hip Hop forever. It still hasn’t recovered.”
No further details were revealed about the film.
Benzino has spoken about the night in question many times and previously took credit for inspiring André 3000’s prophetic speech.
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Speaking on Ray Daniels’ GAUDS podcast, Zino said: “When they was giving OutKast 4.5 mics, I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand the music. And I was the one who kinda raised some situations up at The Source, I’m gonna admit it.
“And I was wrong. I think it got to OutKast. And I think that’s why André said what he said. I think that was kinda directed toward me.”
Despite the widely-held belief that Suge Knight was targeting Diddy in his own speech, the Bad Boy boss has claimed his former rival told him his words were actually aimed at Jermaine Dupri.
“When he said that, I was like, ‘Whoa. I know where that’s coming from. Are they crazy? I could blow this thing up right now,’” Diddy recalled in his Drink Champs interview back in 2016. “So when I ran up and asked [Suge], he said, ‘Nah, I was talking about Jermaine Dupri.’”
“And I’m from Harlem. I don’t want no violence … no danger … none of that shit. So I really put it in my head that it gave me reason for my ego to walk away.”
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