Benzino remembers his relationship with Tupac Shakur as being a positive one but says the events that unfolded after they recorded their song permanently damaged rap as we know it!!!
TMZ Hip Hop spoke to Benzino amid his recent appearance on TV One's "Celebrity Crime Files" outlining the 1994 Quad Studios Shooting that left Pac with 5 gunshot wounds and a burning vendetta, against all odds.
Benzino actually recorded his "Killa" collab with Tupac and Freddie The Foxx aka Bumpy Knuckles (more on that later) at Quad Studios shortly before the shooting, and recalls Tupac surrounded himself with guys heavier in the street afterward.
As fate would have it, the "Killa" record came about from a short-lived dispute between Benzino and Bumpy, where Benzino admits he had to pull out a gun to keep the peace.
Zino says a mutual respect manifested because Bumpy was used to having his way ... and the rest is MP3 history.
The Boston rapper also was close to Live Squad rapper Stretch, the man Tupac would publicly accuse on wax of helping set up the Quad Studios robbery before he was murdered in 1995.
Benzino wishes the clash could have been avoided, but it was that same year Zino says hip hop culture took another dive -- at the 1995 Source Awards!!!
The event lives in infamy for Suge Knight's "Come to Death Row" speech aimed at Diddy ... but Benzino notes Andre 3000's "The South has something to say" quote was a game-changer for rap below the Mason-Dixon line.
Benzino tells us he's been interviewing several major players who were there and will be rolling out his own Source Awards documentary in 2025!!!