Benzino

Benzino (born Raymond Scott in 1964) is an African American rapper as well as the CEO and co-owner of The Source, a formerly top-selling hip-hop magazine in the United States. Raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Benzino m

Benzino (born Raymond Scott in 1964) is an African American rapper as well as the CEO and co-owner of The Source, a formerly top-selling hip-hop magazine in the United States. Raised in Boston, Massachusetts, Benzino met The Source founder and co-owner Dave Mays while Mays was a student at Harvard University; from 1988 to 2001 Benzino served as a silent partner, finally acknowledging his ownership of the magazine in 2001. Benzino's rapping career has been relatively unsuccessful, compared to many of the star hip-hop recording artists featured in his magazine. Although infamous for his run-ins with the police, and his role at The Source, he is most famous for his ill-fated battle with multi-platinum rapper Eminem.

He started his rap career with a group called the Almighty RSO. The RSO were known for their anti-police song "One In The Chamba" off the Forever Doomsday album released through Tommy Boy Records. The single and album were considered controversial for the tone of the rap group using references to invoking murder on local law enforcement. In 1994 The Boston Police and the Fraternal Order of Police union had placed the group on high priority at the time forcing RSO to be dropped from the label. After being dropped from the label, his friend David Mays, the founder of The Source slipped a four page article about the RSO in the magazine forcing a major walkout of the writers.