Benzino Claims He Inspired Andre 3000’s Famed ‘The South Got Somethin’ To Say’ Speech At The 1995 Source Awards

Andre 3000, Benzino

Benzino Claims He Inspired Andre 3000’s Famed ‘The South Got Somethin’ To Say’ Speech At The 1995 Source Awards

Benzino, former co-owner of “The Source” magazine, claims he was the inspiration behind Outkast member Andre 3000’s infamous “South got somethin’ to say” speech at the 1995 Source Awards.

According to reports, the iconic speech took place as hip-hop duo Outkast was accepting the Best New Rap Group Award from the publication. The statement declared by one-half of Outkast, Andre 3000, seemingly predicted the dominance southern hip-hop players would have on the culture.

Outkast

As the Atlanta duo had just accepted their trophy, Outkast was reportedly met with a chorus of boos from the NYC-packed crowd inside the Paramount Theater. Seemingly affected by the lack of respect being given to groupmate Big Boi and himself, Andre 3000 made it clear that Atlanta and the rest of the region were here to stay.

During his acceptance speech at the 1995 Source Awards in New York City, Andre said,

“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.”

Benzino, real name Raymond Scott, recently appeared for an interview and explained why he believes he played a role in the historic moment. Benzino, 57, began with,

“The reason why Andre 3000 said what he did, I’ma have to tell y’all this story.”

He continued,

“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 Andre said what he said. I think that was kinda directed toward me.”

Benzino

Reportedly, the TV personality admitted to letting his personal opinions get in the way of the duo’s positive album reviews that writers at “The Source” were giving to Outkast at the time, promoting him to take a step back. Benzino regretfully explained,

“I think I made a mistake and I shouldn’t have. 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.”

He added,

“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.”

To date, Outkast has reportedly taken home a total of six Grammy Awards, including two victories in the Best Rap Album category.

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[Sources: 1, 2]