Raymond Leon Scott (born July 18, 1965), better known by his stage name Ray Benzino, is an American

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

media proprietor A media proprietor, media mogul or media tycoon refers to a entrepreneur who controls, through personal ownership or via a dominant position in any media-related company or enterprise, media consumed by many individuals. Those with significant co ...

, television personality, rapper, and record producer. He produced records (as part of the production team Hangmen 3) and co-owned the magazine ''

The Source ''The Source'' is an American hip hop and entertainment website, and a magazine that publishes annually or . It is the world's longest-running rap periodical, being founded as a newsletter in 1988 by Jonathan Shecter. David Mays was the ma ...

.''

Career

Benzino has said one of the primary inspirations to enter the genre of rap stems from his fondness of the film ''Wild Style.'' Benzino was a founding member of rap groups

the Almighty RSO The Almighty RSO was an American hip hop group from Boston, Massachusetts. Members included MCs E-Devious (Marco Antonio Ennis, later known as Antonio Twice Thou), Ray Dog (Ray Scott, later known as Benzino), Tony Rhome and DJ Deff Jeff. History ...

and

Made Men In the American and Sicilian Mafia, a made man is a fully initiated member of the Mafia. To become "made", an associate first must be Italian or of Italian descent and sponsored by another made man. An inductee will be required to take the oa ...

. He has appeared on the

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show '' Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta'', since 2012.

Feud with Eminem

Benzino is known for being involved since 2003 in a widely publicized feud with rapper

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

; the feud began after his ''The Source'' magazine rated ''

The Eminem Show ''The Eminem Show'' is the fourth studio album by American rapper Eminem. After it had originally scheduled for release on June 4, 2002, the album was released nine days earlier on May 26, 2002, through Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and ...

'' as four mics out of five. Eminem blamed the magazine and its co-founder Benzino for what he considered an unfair rating. Benzino even refused to help promote his movie '' 8 Mile'' during his performance in Puerto Rico. Benzino later released

diss track A diss track, diss record or diss song (diss – abbr. from ''disrespect'') is a song whose primary purpose is to verbally attack someone else, usually another artist. Diss tracks are often the result of an existing, escalating feud between the ...

s towards Eminem, titled "Pull Your Skirt Up" (calling him "2003

Vanilla Ice Robert Matthew Van Winkle (born October 31, 1967), known professionally as Vanilla Ice, is an American rapper, actor, and television host. Born in South Dallas, and raised in Texas and South Florida, Ice released his debut album, ''Hooked'', ...

") and "Die Another Day", while Eminem released "The Sauce" and "Nail in the Coffin". As a continuation of this animosity between the two, Benzino released the diss mixtape ''Benzino Presents: Die Another Day: Flawless Victory'', further disparaging Eminem.

Personal life

Scott considered Edward DeJesus to be his father figure, especially in the duration of DeJesus's incarceration. Scott's sister Maureen is a medical doctor, and his other sister, Anita Scott-Wilson, has a doctorate degree in

veterinary medicine Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...

from the

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was de ...

. Coi Leray is Scott's daughter. He has dated

Karlie Redd Karlie Redd ('' née'' Lewis; born April 15) born Keisha Lewis, is an American television personality, rapper, model and actress. She rose to prominence for appearing as a main cast member of VH1's reality show '' Love & Hip Hop: Atlanta'' sin ...

and Althea Heart. Scott and Heart had a son together in November 2015, but they broke off their engagement shortly thereafter. They appeared together on Season 6 of the television show ''

Marriage Boot Camp ''Marriage Boot Camp'' (also known as ''Marriage Boot Camp: Bridezillas'', ''Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars'' and ''Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars Family Edition'') is an American reality television series which debuted on May 31, 2013, on W ...

'' chronicling their broken relationship. On March 29, 2014, Scott was shot after attending his mother's funeral in

Duxbury, Massachusetts Duxbury (alternative older spelling: "Duxborough") is a historic seaside town in Plymouth County, Massachusetts, Plymouth County, Massachusetts, United States. A suburb located on the South Shore (Massachusetts), South Shore approximately to t ...

. He suffered non-life-threatening injuries when the bullets hit his shoulder and back. His 36-year-old nephew Gai Scott was later arrested for the shooting.

Legal issues

On April 16, 2019, Scott was stopped in

Brookhaven, Georgia Brookhaven is a city in the northeastern suburbs of Atlanta that is located in western DeKalb County, Georgia, DeKalb County, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States, directly northeast of Atlanta. On July 31, 2012, Brookhaven was approved in ...

and cited for driving an uninsured vehicle. He was not the policy holder responsible for insuring the vehicle. On June 22, 2019, Scott was arrested for a

bench warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state, which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual, or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a ju ...

DeKalb County, Georgia DeKalb County (, , ) is located in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 764,382, making it Georgia's fourth-most populous county. Its county seat is Decatur. DeKalb County is inclu ...

. Scott was taken to police headquarters for booking and was later jailed. As he was being transported there, he launched a racist tirade against a police officer arresting him, who was of Vietnamese descent. The tirade involved multiple

racial slur The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or oth ...

s and

maternal insult A maternal insult, also referred to as a "yo mama" joke, is a reference to a person's mother through the use of phrases such as "your mother" or other regional variants, frequently used to insult the target by way of their mother. Used as an in ...

s. On July 31, 2020, Scott was arrested and charged with criminal damage to property. He was accused of damaging the

Chevrolet Silverado The Chevrolet Silverado is a range of trucks manufactured by General Motors under the Chevrolet brand. Introduced for the 1999 model year, the Silverado is the successor to the long running Chevrolet C/K model line. Taking its name from th ...

pickup truck of a man who was in the company of Scott's ex-fiancé Althea Heart. On February 3, 2022, Scott was arrested and charged with one count of second degree criminal damage to property, a felony.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

The Benzino Project ''The Benzino Project'' is the debut solo studio album by American rapper Benzino. It was released on October 30, 2001 through Motown and ZNO Records. Recording sessions took place at Daddy's Home and at The Hit Factory in New York, at Source Soun ...

'' (2001) * '' Redemption'' (2003) * ''

Arch Nemesis ''Arch Nemesis'' is the third solo studio album by American rapper and record producer Benzino. It was released independently on February 22, 2005 via ZNO Records. Production was handled mostly by Benzino's production team Hangmen 3, as well as ...

'' (2005) * '' The Antidote'' (2007)

Collaboration albums

* ''In Tha Company of Killaz'' with Wiseguys (1996) * '' Doomsday: Forever RSO'' with the Almighty RSO (1996) * ''

Classic Limited Edition ''Classic Limited Edition'' is the only studio album by American hip hop group Made Men. It was released on August 24, 1999 through Restless Records and ZNO Records. Production was handled mostly by the group's production team Hangmen 3, alongsid ...

'' with Made Men (1999) * ''No Skits Vol. 1'' with Hangmen 3 (2000)

Remix albums

* '' The Benzino Remix Project'' (2002)

Mixtapes

* ''Die Another Day: Flawless Victory'' (2003) * ''When the Heavens Fall'' with 1st 48 (2010) * ''Caezar'' (2011) * ''Blue Bag'' with 1st 48 (2011) * ''The Magnificent 757's'' with Stevie J (2012) * ''Crushed Ice'' (2013) * ''Welcome to Texaco City'' with OJ da Juiceman (2015)

Charted singles

* " Rock the Party" (2002, US No. 82)

Filmography

Television

References

External links

''Hip Hop Weekly'' magazine official website

''Real World Police: Racist Tirade Against Asian Cop By Ex-"Love & Hip Hop" Star Benzino #TMZFail'' You Tube channel showing open record videos of arrests
{{Authority control African-American male rappers Living people Rappers from Boston American shooting survivors Participants in American reality television series 1965 births East Coast hip hop musicians 21st-century American rappers 21st-century American male musicians 20th-century African-American people