What is the Eminem and Benzino beef and why was Coi Leray dragged into their feud?

If the hip-hop world is known for anything beyond rapid-fire verses and whatever Snoop Dogg’s latest food and venture might be, it’s hot-button rap beefs. Earlier in 2024, fans bore witness to an eyebrow-raining feud between Nicki Minaj and Megan Thee Stallion, which involved mentions of foot sizes, other people’s mothers, and some Twitter-happy fingertips. 

Now, the rap world is keeping us entertained yet again, as Eminem has reignited a decades-old beef with fellow rapper and producer, Benzino. Like Nicki before him, Eminem likewise dragged his enemy’s family into the picture, reintroducing a quarrel that first began in 2002 in the form of a new diss track. Move over, Capote Vs. The Swans, there’s a new feud in town. 

When did the Eminem-Benzino feud begin and how did Benzino’s daughter find herself in the middle of it?

Eminem’s recent featured verse on the Lyrical Lemonade song “Doomsday Pt. 2” is responsible for reigniting his feud with Benzino. On the track, which was released in January 2024, Eminem takes square aim at his one-time friend Benzino, commenting on the producer’s height, financial situation — “all the debt you in” — and sexuality. 

The lattermost topic revisits long-running rumors that Benzino is gay since he was spotted staying at a hotel with a man in 2018. Clearly needing to get more off his chest, Eminem goes on to mention Benzino’s daughter, Coi Leray, herself a musician known for hits like “Baby Don’t Hurt Me” and the Spider-Man Across The Spider-Verse song “Self Love”. 

“Guess that Coi Leray feat’s in the toilet, aye?” Eminem raps, presumably referring to a collaboration between the pair that won’t happen on account of his beef with Benzino. “Doomsday Pt. 2” is the most recent development in a feud that dates back to 2002, when Benzino, then-co-owner of the music magazine The Source, gave Eminem’s critically acclaimed fourth studio album The Eminem Show a four out of five rating. 

At the time, Eminem’s beef with Benzino had already been brewing, with the former rapper having mentioned Benzino in various songs leading up to The Eminem Show’s release. “It [was] disrespectful,” Benzino recalled of his decision to underrate Eminem’s album. “How the f*** am I gonna have this [person] in my magazine?” In the years that followed, the pair regularly name-dropped each other in diss tracks, with Benzino mentioning Eminem’s mother, describing him as “overrated,” and calling him a “maggot” on the 2002 song “Pull Up Your Skirt.”

For his part, in a bid to mock The Source review that started it all, Eminem released the Benzino diss track “The Source” in 2004. In it, Eminem mentions Benzino’s “bulls*** review,” calling the publication a “sell-out mag” and describing Benzino as the “softest, fakest, wannabe gangsta.” Needless to say, the feud lingered for years, to the point where Benzino had to address the rumors about his finances and sexuality as described in “Doomsday Pt. 2”. 

Benzino shared that he was tight on money at the time he was spotted with a man at a hotel, confirming that it was actually just a friend and that he isn’t gay. In terms of Eminem’s references to Leray, Benzino did a tearful interview on the Drink Champs podcast (itself a controversy magnet) earlier this month, saying his beef with Eminem had affected his daughter’s place in the music interview. Benzino, who has released four studio albums and collaborated with the likes of P. Diddy and 2Pac, said the feud has meant that Leray feels as though she has to be “cool with Eminem because everybody is against” Benzino. 

In the same interview, a visibly emotional Benzino said he was “tired” of the feud.

“I don’t know him to hate him. I don’t hate white people tired of this s**t, man. It’s just too much. I don’t want to be the bad guy.”

But what contradicts his above-mentioned emotions is the fact that in early February 2024, he released an Eminem diss track titled “Rap Elvis”. In the song, Benzino calls into question Eminem’s abilities as a lyricist, accusing the rapper of appropriating Black culture and chasing the clout of himself and his daughter. Leray herself has commented on her father’s beef with Eminem throughout the years. 

In 2023, Leray said Benzino would stop speaking to her for years if she ever collaborated with Eminem. The year prior, Leray found herself in another one of her father’s mix-ups after he leaked news on Leray’s single with Nicki Minaj. Benzino quickly apologized, though it’s unclear how the latest development in his feud with Eminem will affect Leray. 

In any case, Benzino and Eminem’s rap beef remains alive and well, so we’ll keep an ear out for more searing verses from the pair in the future.