Dave Mays & Benzino on the recent firing of XXL’s former EIC, Elliot Wilson.
Dave Mays
“It’s no coincidence that Elliot’s firing comes just a few weeks before the impending launch of MONSTA magazine, which will introduce the world to a new blueprint for the monthly magazine, a more advanced format that delivers exciting, relevant and informative content to the new generation of hip hop fans. Elliot’s firing signals the end to an old-fashioned way of publishing magazines that is no longer viable, which explains why all of the current monthly mags—from XXL to The Source to Vibe—are struggling in continuing to try to operate in a way that doesn’t work in the new age of media and of hip hop. Benzino and I are pioneering a new approach to hip hop magazine publishing which—given the impact of Hip Hop Weekly in just its first year—is already proving itself; we are extremely excited to show the world our new vision when MONSTA
magazine debuts on newsstands at the beginning of next month!”
Then you have Benzino…
“Karma is a muthafucka!!!…The little bitch should have been let go years ago if you ask me… When I heard about this I thought it was beautiful…He (Elliot Wilson) doesn’t represent Hip Hop or the culture anyway. XXL and all the editors over there are just a copy cat of The Source and now them, Source and Vibe are feeling the fucking pinch….Now Yellow Nigga can go get a job sucking fucking Jimmy Iovine since that’s what he was doing anyway…G Unit is over and so is Elliot. If I see him in the streets I’ma put a foot in his ass…I’ma do that for Hip Hop…”
1.) While I thought Mays was a very good editor during the early years, he’s clearly lost his way. However…
2.) At least he handled himself with a little amount of tact & class, even with the shameless plugs for their next venture. Which leads us to…
3.) Benzino’s response which was pure ignorance. Do that “for Hip Hop…”?
Benny, if you want to do something for hip-hop, stop trying to produce albums, end your career in publishing and, if you really want to help, find those Almighty RSO dudes because they were your only worthy contribution to the actual art form of hip-hop.
While I may not agree with everything Yellow said (his monthly arrogance was pretty much repulsive to me, the antithesis of an editor’s job & prolly spawned a thousand bloggers who try to pull the same schitck), I do commend his ability to overthrow his competition and take the glossy to the top ranks. Given that, I have an inclination to believe that YN can find a gig elsewhere fairly easily while Benny & Dave may want to apply to trade school & find something more suitable because media obviously isn’t their thing.
Funny thing is that while they tout it, hiphopweekly.com doesn’t look like it’s been updated in quite a while.
Dave Mays & Benzino On Elliot Wilson’s Firing! [Mahogany Girl]
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YES!! Made Men/Benzino double page ads once again!! What Hip-Hop has been missing!! YAY!!!!
@ Gotty: Totally off topic, but since I know that you’re a tech-head like me, have you seen the new BlackBerry???!!!
http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/01/05/vodafone-roadmap-blackberry-8-x-x-x/
they some dumb-asses. this is steve bucemi(sp) irony from con-air: irony=these dudes hailing the demise of print media as they prepare to launch print media.
Man Yellow on Yellow crime has to stop!!!
I do have to admit I was saying to myself the other day; Boy I wish there was a mag out that the boss of the mag would beat their music critics for not giving the top grade for their weak music. That’s the kind of mag I will support. LOL!!!!
That’s why I luv Benzino, he is the epitome of stupidity.
“hailing the demise of print media as they prepare to launch print media.”
=======================$$$$$=================
Chuck, I’m glad you mentioned this because I thought that I HAD TO BE misreading some sh*t like that.
*smh*… hatehatehatehate….
“Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m gonna go put water in Buck Nasty’s Mama’s dish. “
Totally on topic now: Hiphop Weekly???!!! HAHAHA!!! That piece of shit is the journalistic equivalent of The National Enquirer!!! Fuck outta here!!! Listen man, hiphop magazines are DEAD all you need is three letters: T-S-S!!! The only thing hiphop mags are good for are pretty-glossy photos, XXX dvd ads, and fake-bling jewellery ads. The only rap mag probably worth checking for Murda Dog. Quite honestly though Yellow Nig was a good editor, but I miss Selwyn Sifu Hinds at the Source.
Flea – Looking. Liking. Wondering when it releases. Not that I’ll be copping. I like to see stuff on the market for a while and the kinks worked out instead of being a guinea pig.
They need to retail those Respect My Fresh t-shirts, do something productive for HipHop.
these dudes are… *smh*
I always kinda rooted for Ben’s rapping career to take off, so he’d abandon his ‘journalistic’ endeavors
@ Gotty: Should be released soon, say late spring. I heard RIM might make (gasp!!!) a touch-screen BlackBerry soon, once that happens goodbye over-hyped i-phone!!!
Elemental was the last good Hip-Hop rag. And I don’t know what the eff happened to them, but I had a two year subscription and they owe me money. Wax Poetics is cool, but thats for record nerds like myself.
It’s a disgrace how they let the source go from the most respected print media in Hip-Hop, to a pathetic marketing vehicle (kinda mirrors the rap music industry). I used to cop albums on the strength of their ratings. I knew something was up when they gave Black Rob and Made Med 4 and 1/2 mics and them albums turned out to be mediocre (Black Rob) or trash (Made Men).
If he didn’t literally own his own magazine, nobody would ever hear a word Benzino said. Now that’s coming to an end. Thank God for that.
Ive gotten to the point with these people where I get as mad at HHHLive for making this a story as I do at Benzino for saying it. We know he’s self-interested clown who stirs up shit as a means of promotion. The only way to end it is to collectively ignore
Zino needs to keep me and my co-workers names out his mouth.
I just feel sorry for Dave Mays. Everything I’ve read bout that situation just sounds like he was naive, got caught up with wrong cats and got extorted. Benzino is a cock but I cant stand YN either. His shit reads like an egomaniac writer turned gangsta.
Dave Mays white boy
Needs to shut his trap no one is checking for HHW like that even Wendy Williams has stopped the plug on her show…
Labels aren’t spending $$$$ on ads like that… f a monsta…
Wasn’t benizo aka ray (forgot his last name) leaked his own sex tape footage trying to create a buzz? Smh
current Hip-hop periodicals & journalism = BULLSHIT & TRASH
The O.G. Source Mind Squad back in the day set a precedent, on so many levels, for how hip-hop should be covered.
Hip-hop print media is garbage. The prominent hip-hop blogs/message boards (TSS, nahright, missinfo, ohword, cocaineblunts, unkut, OKP, etc…feel free to shout out your favs, I know I’ve prolly missed a few) are the only ones that do it right.
Anybody who remembers these lesser known defunct publications knows there was a better bygone golden era for hip-hop magazines: Ego Trip (NYC), The Flavor (Seattle), Stress (NYC), Subculture (LA/SoCal), The Bomb (The Bay Area/NorCal), Rap Pages (LA/SoCal), Rap Sheet (LA/SoCal), Straight From The Lip (SD/SoCal)….
Raymond E Scott aka Benzino…. the short fat fuk…
Dave Mays dare I say it…..
Was I the only one thinking Eskay would take over print for XXL?
I thought “Classic Limited Edition” by Made Men had some joints on it. But Benzino is still a sucker.
print = CD’s = dinosaurs
blogs = downloads = that newness, get with the program
Eskay, or anyone else for that matter, can get in the driver’s seat, but that won’t stop the fact that the wheels are gonna fall off. I haven’t purchased a mag in so long cuz of the innanet…who the fuck in their right mind would buy a catalog full of ads for penis enlargement pills, ghetto-ass bullet wound havin’ hoes in hood pornos, overpriced “urban” clothing and gaudy worthless jewelry
LOLOLOLOL
yeah, I’m showing disdain for the current state of niggaz that “lissen” to Lil Boosie and his ilk. Keep rocking your crispy white dresses, oops, i meant white teez.
and Benzino/Made Men/The Source was a classic case of conflict of interest, plain and simple. Same thing with Elliot Wilson and XXL with G Unit/Interscope.
back then it was butter, baby. now the milk’s gone bad.
^Whoa…real talk. I haven’t brought a rap mag in months. It’s a new day. Eskay would be a good choice though. Nah Right is one of the better sites out there. I’m curious to see what His inluence would be on a print mag, coming from a digital background.
Print will never die. Period.
There’s still those who prefer something tangible, just like with CDs. As well, print has something most “blogs” can’t offer…
Quality writing.
Let that marinate.
Gotty, I was having the print vs. digital argument with one of my co-workers today.
While I don’t think print will ever completely die, is it so hard to imagine that you’ll be able to one day find the same quality writing online?
Not necessarily on blogs…but who knows.
I mean shit, Smoking Section has plenty of quality writing imo.
^I prefer tangible product as well. Tangible QUALITY product.
Can’t nobody doin’ it now hold a candle to the likes of Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, dream hampton, Min..miss info (lol, she prolly wouldn’t preshate me putting her gubmint out there like that, but she wrote the 5 mic review for Illmatic)…Reggie Dennis, Jon Shecter and James Bernard ran a TIGHT ship back when The Source was a bible for a lot of us.
Now, granted I haven’t even bothered to pick up The Source or XXL recently, but what sort of quality writing can there be when the music and everyone/everything around it is in a sad state of affairs?
Magazines need money. Labels pay magazines money to have their artists portrayed in a favorable light. Labels that have money are gonna wanna push their biggest selling artists, which, almost invariably are the ones making crap music.
Who the fuck would wanna read about Lil Boosie or T-Pain anyway? but i digress…
Sites like these empower those who wouldn’t normally have a voice. THAT’S HIP HOP. Hip Hop by its very nature is supposed to be against the status quo. When labels/magazines/media outlets defer to corporate interests and lead the people astray, that ain’t cool.
Just think if Little Brother (or another overlooked artist) got a cover/feature with XXL or The Source? Man, that would be a BIG look to help promote some good music for a change…
and as far as I know, the blogs I visit are out of that payola loop, plus I’d assume they’re relatively cost efficient to maintain.
and I’d like to think that blogs are run by heads who possess integrity and aren’t biased towards corporate interests.
When money’s involved, that’s when integrity’s compromised…
the music industry as a whole is fuckin’ shady anyway, so anything coming from that is gonna reflect that…
Eskay – Yeah, I like to think we do okay with writing (and I appreciate the words). And, I see a lot of newspapers & magazines having their writers keep online journals & blogs. But til there’s a considerable upswing in paid online writing, I don’t know how many cats are gonna leave print. Thus, alot of quality writers will be there…and there will be a share here.
I read about this whole printed mat’l vs. new gadgets argument in Newsweek. I believe Amazon has some iPod type gizmo out now for books. It hasn’t caught on simply b/c those who read books love tangible products. Same with alot of hip-hop heads. Again, look @ those audiophiles on here who just spoke up yesterday about having to have cd quality product instead of downloads, even legal downloads.
NM – I see where you’re headed.
granted I haven’t even bothered to pick up The Source or XXL recently, but what sort of quality writing can there be when the music and everyone/everything around it is in a sad state of affairs?
———————
I’m old enough to remember the old staff @ the Source, Vibe (woohooo) and the og staff of writers @ XXL. As the times go, so does the media (which shouldn’t be the case…but it is.)
On a completely irrelevant but relevant note, you mentioned LB. They got a nice spread in The Source a few months back. I know because one of our former writers wrote it.
& LOL at Benzino fka Ray Dogg, real name: Raymond Scott, DOB: 10/24…1965!
this nigga’s FORTY-TWO YEARS OLD all up in that pic holding up an invisible gat with his finger on the imaginary trigger, with his bed buddy Dave Mays attempting his best hardbody grill…knowin’ damn well he ain’t built like that.
not to single them 2 clowns out…cuz the thug-posturing is SO DEAD, yo. This phony-ass tough-guy act that gets put on blast on the covers of magazines that SHOULD die a quick death…oh so tired.
I hope print media never dies. I still read The Source/XXL mainly out of tradition. It’s like an archives. The blog game is so overwhelming sometimes, great posts get lost when you miss a day. Makes the competition better however. I remember YN writing the 4 1/2 Mic review for Moment Of Truth but really wasn’t a fan of his egotistical rants. And unfortunately the Benzino Project resulted in The Source’s downfall. They’re making an honest effort but they’re really inconsistent in the Record Report as of late.
Gotty – are you referring the 4 mic “Getback” review? cuz that was a really good look, and props to the former TSS staffer who did that. I’m sure the whole LB/HOJ team was mad grateful for that. I didn’t know about it ’til later, but from what I know, the review was done before the album release, which is pretty much necessary to get the momentum going…
not to sound like an ingrate, but that kind of coverage, while appreciated, is not enough. Bullshit gets covered, bullshit gets perpetuated, downward spiral continues…the shit ain’t working yo.
Yeah, talented writers should be compensated fairly, but if they’re playing for the wrong team, what’s it all for?…i mean…look, supposedly XXL/Harris Publications is in bed with Interscope, maybe due to YN’s G-Unit dick-riding. Isn’t Interscope a subsidiary of Seagrams (yes, the liquor company)? Their only interest is to maximize profits regardless of the message that gets programmed into kids minds when the see Birdboy for the umpteenth time lookin dazed, confused and psychotic
SMH at print media giving these inarticulate dimwits a soapbox to stand on and a bullhorn so they can talk about how they’ll “…murder your family, your child, and a newborn…” – Birdboy
nothing substantial can ever come of that, that’s why print media, as it stands now, is played out
NM – You deserve a longer reply but I’m short on time so apologies in advance. But nah, they had a 2 pg spread in there. Writer was C. Smith.
peep this:
The Source Issue # 35 August 1992
http://wakeyourdaughterup.blogspot.com/2008/01/trip-down-memory-lane.html
and summa y’all might already know ’bout this here:
Press Rewind If I Haven’t – a collection of scanned vintage hip-hop magazines
http://ifihavent.wordpress.com/
tho i could give a rats ass about some wigger fanboy rag like the source (for wiggers of all races) that was quite a well written and intelligent little piece there Gotty.
& also im gonna say thanks again to whoever posted the SL Jones album link, & the wire ost.
Benzino is a joke. I’ve seen him and Dave Mays get chased out of the radio station in Detroit by Trick Trick and his goons with my own eyes. He’s selling wolf tickets. He isn’t going to do shit to anybody.
Trademark Rob Speaks to THE SLY SHOW & Exposes Benzino and David Mays!!!!
http://www.theslyshow.com/robgspeakswithsly.html
***EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW***