Benzino Claims Fat Joe Played a Role in Lowering the BET Hip-Hop Awards Ratings

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Benzino recently aimed at Fat Joe after the Bronx rapper blamed “gentrification” for BET canceling both the Hip-Hop Awards and Soul Train Awards. Benzino, however, believes Joe is ignoring what he sees as the rapper’s role in the shows’ declining ratings.

The former Source editor-in-chief didn’t hold back while criticizing Joe for speaking on BET’s internal decisions. According to Benzino, Joe’s run as host did nothing to boost viewership.

“Why did Fat Joe say it’s gentrification, after they let his ass host the awards two years earlier?” Benzino said during an Instagram Live session. “The ratings were the worst ever after he hosted it. Was it gentrification when you were hosting it, Joey? Stop, man. Joe, you’re putting out too much misinformation on the internet, bro. You gotta do better, man.”

Fat Joe, for his part, has claimed that BET’s struggles are linked to the network’s move away from Black ownership and culture. He’s described the cancellation of the award shows as “a form of gentrification,” while also alleging that the network has been cutting budgets and quietly letting staff go.

“Little by little over the years, quietly, they’ve been firing a lot of people behind the scenes in BET, and everybody who has something to say, they’ve been firing them,” Joe explained on his Joe and Jada podcast with  Jadakiss. “The budget, not for me, but the budget just kept getting chopped and chopped and chopped.”

Benzino, Fat Joe, BET Awards

 

The BET Hip-Hop Awards have been experiencing a steady decline in ratings over the last three years. Interestingly, Fat Joe has hosted all three broadcasts during that time. In 2022, the ceremony drew about 708,000 viewers.

By 2023, that number fell to 657,000, and in 2024, it dropped to just 333,000 — less than half of what it was two years prior. While it would be a stretch to say Joe alone is responsible for such a drop, Benzino argues that his hosting stint certainly didn’t help the situation.

For more than a decade, the BET Hip-Hop Awards served as an important cultural event. But in recent years, a lack of awareness about what’s current and relevant, along with changes in the network’s business strategy, has hurt the show’s appeal. BET has announced plans to “reimagine” both the Hip-Hop Awards and the Soul Train Awards, with the possibility of bringing them back in 2026.

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Guns N’ Roses Debut Nothin’ And Atlas At Tour Opening Show

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Guns N’ Roses have officially begun their 2026 tour and treated fans to the first ever live performances of Nothin’ and Atlas. You can find videos and the full setlist from the night below.

The concert took place at Parque Fundidora in Monterrey, Mexico on Saturday March 28 and marked the opening night of the band’s 2026 tour schedule. It follows a busy stretch of concerts last year, which concluded in October.

This tour also marks their first since drummer Frank Ferrer exited the group in 2025 after close to two decades. Just a day before the show, keyboard player Melissa Reese also shared that she would not be joining the upcoming dates due to personal matters.

Like many of their concerts, the band began the night with major fan favourites including Welcome To The Jungle and Mr Brownstone, later adding classics such as Paradise City, Don’t Cry, Civil War, November Rain, and their take on Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door as the show continued.

Along with their well known version of the Bob Dylan song, Axl Rose and the rest of the band also performed several other covers during the night. These included Black Sabbath’s Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, Wings’ Live And Let Die, Velvet Revolver’s Slither, The Damned’s New Rose, and UK Subs’ Down On The Farm.

The Monterrey performance also included the first live performances of their newer songs Nothin’ and Atlas, which were originally released in December. See the full setlist and clips from the show below.

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Guns N’ Roses’ setlist was:

‘Welcome to the Jungle’
‘Mr. Brownstone’
‘Bad Obsession’
‘Live and Let Die’ (Wings cover)
‘Slither’ (Velvet Revolver cover)
‘Chinese Democracy’
‘Pretty Tied Up’
‘It’s So Easy’
‘Yesterdays’
‘Double Talkin’ Jive’
‘Sabbath Bloody Sabbath’ (Black Sabbath cover)
‘Nothin’’ (live debut)
‘Dead Horse’
‘Perhaps’
‘Civil War’
‘Atlas’ (live debut)
‘Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door’ (Bob Dylan cover)
‘Sweet Child o’ Mine’
‘November Rain’
‘Patience’’
‘New Rose ‘(The Damned cover) (Duff on vocals)
‘Down on the Farm’ (UK Subs cover)
‘Don’t Cry’
‘Nightrain’
‘Paradise City’

These two tracks also represent the group’s first new releases in two years, following Perhaps and The General which arrived in 2023.

After the Mexico show, Slash and the rest of the band will continue the tour in April with nine major concerts scheduled across Brazil. In May, they will head to Florida for two performances before moving on to a European run across June and July. That leg begins with two dates in Poland, followed by a performance in Dublin and an already confirmed appearance at the UK’s Download Festival.

Additional stops include concerts in the Netherlands, Germany, France, and Belgium, before they return to North America for another round of shows. Those dates begin in North Carolina on July 23 and conclude in Georgia on September 19. Buy US tickets here, European tickets here, and see the full list of dates below.

In other news, guitarist Slash recently suggested that the band may not perform at the Las Vegas Sphere and also hinted that new Guns N’ Roses material could be on the way, saying that “everybody [in the band] is thinking about it”.

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