During a recent appearance on the We In Miami podcast hosted by Slim Stunta, the former co-owner of The Source magazine Benzino recalled a run-in he had with Jay-Z and Dame Dash after an argument about a cover the publication had printed.
Before XXL became the formidable force it is today, The Source magazine was the most influential publication in hip-hop and held a significant amount of power in the culture. From album reviews to highlighting new artists, The Source was a big deal.
However, as the former co-owner of the magazine, Benzino (real name Raymond Scott) got a lot of backlash from artists when articles and stories presented them and their music negatively. During his appearance on the We In Miami podcast, Scott revealed that in the early 2000s, Jay-Z and Dame Dash attempted to storm the publication’s headquarters in New York.
However, what Jay (real name Shawn Carter) didn’t know is that Benzino had preempted the attack and had some of his friends awaiting their arrival, ready to throw them out of the building.
Telling Slim Stunta the story, Benzino recalled, “This one time, Jay and Dame was complaining about a cover situation, and they came up to The Source on some rah-rah sh*t! So, I had n*ggas strapped up in different rooms — they didn’t know that.”
He continued, “So they up there and started getting loud, because we just wanted them to think that Dave (co-founder of The Source) was up there with just one person. Sure enough, it starts getting loud. n*ggas start coming out them rooms, and they had to get up out of there. There was a few of them, I think maybe three or four. But there was at least seven of us. There was at least seven guns up in The Source.”
Recalling the exchange, Benzino admitted that it was primarily Dame Dash who took it to the next level and recounted how quiet Jay-Z was throughout the confrontation. Detailing Carter’s calmness, Scott added, “Jay don’t get loud; it was Dame. They started getting loud with Dave and then, you know, ‘Aight, enough is enough. That’s it. Y’all got to go.’ It’s nothing against Dame Dash — respect to Dame. If someone’s pressing up on me, that’s it. It’s war. The heavens will fall if you try to press up on me.”
Dame Dash and Jay-Z were ambushed, thrown out of the building, and according to Benzino, learnt a lesson about the power dynamics in hip-hop and never attempted to throw their weight around concerning The Source magazine.
You can hear Benzino speaking about the incident in the video below.
