Benzino Says Andre 3000’s “South Got Something To Say” Speech Was Inspired By Him
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
Benzino has come out with claims that he was the inspiration behind Outkast member Andre 3000’s legendary “South got somethin’ to say” speech at the 1995 Source Awards.
The rapper and former co-owner of The Source appeared on an episode of Ray Daniels’ GAUDS podcast that dropped Monday (April 10), during which he explained his reasoning behind his theory. “The reason why André 3000 said what he did, I’ma have to tell y’all this story,” the 57-year-old began.
More from VIBE.com
Killer Mike Taps Lil Wayne, André 3000, And More For Forthcoming Album 'Michael'
Erykah Badu Talks Having "Three Baby Daddies" And Marriage Not Being "Fit" For Her
“When they was giving OutKast 4.5 mics, I remember, I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand the music. And I was the one who kinda raised some situations up at The Source, I’m gonna admit it. And I was wrong. I think it got to OutKast. And I think that’s why André said what he said. I think that was kinda directed toward me.
The Boston native admits to letting his personal opinion get the best of him, prompting him to push back on the amount of praise and glowing album reviews that writers at The Source were heaping upon the duo at the time. “I think I made a mistake and I shouldn’t have,” Benzino laments. “Usually, I bow out of the whole five-mic thing. The five mics was so strong that we let the journalists take care of that. The Source was business over here and the journalists over here.
“We would let the journalists take care of that; the writers, the photographers. It was a group of them and they would sit in a room and the labels would send the albums and they would rate them. It was one of the main things, the five mic system. One time, me and one of them got into a debate about OutKast because I didn’t understand at that time that music. And I was wrong.”
The moment, which occurred as Outkast was accepting the Best New Rap Group Award from the publication, has become a defining moment in Hip-Hop history and foreshadowed the South’s emergence as a force to be reckoned with in the culture. Clearly perturbed by the lack of respect being given to groupmate Big Boi and himself, 3000 threw the gauntlet down while letting it be known that Atlanta and the rest of the region were here to stay. “But it’s like this though: I’m tired of folks, — them closed-minded folks. It’s like we got a demo tape and don’t nobody wanna hear it. But it’s like this, the South got somethin’ to say. That’s all I got to say.”
Watch Outkast’s acceptance speech at the 1995 Source Awards below.
