The curious case of Benzino
A tale of how falling to the fashion trend of the time led to first spite, then appeasement. When neither extreme was the answer.
How being a new "one for the future" emerged from a verse on a 2pac song and out of the shadows of the Made Men only to disappear in a beef with the new "it" kid.
Keep it real they say in the rap game. And though I'm not saying Benzino failed to adhere to this adage, rather he let his emotions, first fueling the fire of dislike for someone popular at the time, then the need to align to acheive that long needed validation.
Validation. Something humans all seek. So his straying from his true self was something we all feel the pull from at some point. Except in his case, in the celebrity world, it was amplified. Especially given the time and lack of credit he received for so much work and great music. Like him or not most people I've played Benzino tracks...I've done just that; played them. They were joining in with the lyrics they knew from a mixed cd or playlist on shuffle when after a few tracks I get the inevitable (every.single.time) head bop and "who's this?!" When I tell them, there's a shrug and head tilt where, due to pride not allowing words to express their false assumptions (I know them well enough), there should be an outright "decent track" or "tuuuune". Very wide lexicon when it comes to approval, my peers.
Anyway, even as a big fan myself I think at both extremes either continually fuelling a beef that, minus its audibly poor reception from the media (jay z actually called Zinos actions during it "shitty"...not that jiggas the holder of morality, see his recent political affiliations), would've probably petered out leaving zino to continue to progress as an artist. But due both to his nature of fighting back at the reaction that sided with the Dre endorsed new kid on the block, on it went, tainting his next 2 albums. Both of which were good but perhaps wouldve been better received had they been separated from the beef. Then after a while he produced, for me, his finest work, The Antidote. Even the concept, a prescription to the current crap (I spelt that right) of rappers, was creative. And while he took over most of the verses it heavily features members from his label on solid beats with tracks that are solid sounding and tell a great story. This could be due to the movie he also made at the time, giving this whole project more gravitas. Some might say at this point that despite the effort, the damage had been done. Reputations can stick. And I cant help but feel here's about the time he made his second mistake.
After a few decent tracks without a follow up album, Benzino then seemed to start making tracks that, frankly sounded heavily influenced by the sounds of the times. Now, no one aside from the most avid fans likes an artist continually covering old ground or stay stuck in the past. What he did however wasn't a middle ground the way his third and forth albums met the beef material in the middle with slick verses and beats amidst the hate rhetoric. It just sounded like replicas of current sounds. As a fan I was let down by this. But after years of feeling in the wilderness in spite of all the effort he put in, the need for validation would feel strong. Imagine being shunned by the rest of the office at work because of your political views and the urge to find a common ground. That, on steroids. Because he was in the world of the famous. This cowtowing was reflected if not reinforced by his appearances, even regular spots on reality tv shows.
What Benzino, given hindsight and broader shoulders (which is ironic because in a way he has progressed in a positive sense, he's pretty damn hench these days), what he should have done can be located as I said in the diamonds in the rough of his previous work, the non beef related stuff. Essentially the 5th album, the antidote. Except instead of throwing that away due to its public reception he should have gone further with it. Even delving into his own discography and giving the true fans and those I'd put my house on he'd accumulate, by elaborating on the tracks that weren't tainted.
Tracks like bottles n up, on my mind and a track that came years before the likes of jayz and busta rhymes combined with linkin park to make the new age rocky sound, last days callin'. Which is an amazing track that unbelievably only served as a bonus track on that album. It was a sound that at the time I remember thinking I've never heard that sound before...is this a teaser for the next project? It was also the first thing that came to my mind when I heard the Linkin Park-Jay-Z album. The tracks just mentioned could have been built on and especially last days callin' that, for me, could have made him the godfather of a new sound. But instead it seems the fashionable perception of the time led him to throw the baby out with the bath water.
There's a lot of what ifs when it comes to those in the limelight. But most of them will always be the stuff of pub debates and daydreams because either the actors too old now to play Bond or the boxer's too punch drunk. But musicians aren't limited in this same way. So, Mr. Scott, if you ever get a chance to read this, I implore you to delve into your own back catalogue, shun the fashion...but not to the extent you embrace becoming an "arch nemesis" and get back to making some magic.