Famous Detroit battle rapper Quest MCODY says there is nothing to discuss in Benzino’s raps if he didn’t write them.

The battle rap podcast that gave Benzino a platform to brag after dropping his second Eminem diss (and to expose himself by saying that other people in the recording studio were “feeding him lines”) also asked real battle rappers about the situation. We heard from Marv Won, who was appalled by Benzino’s attempt to use his name against Eminem. Now, another battle rap veteran has an important thing to say.

Quest MCODY has been around for a while, battling in one team with Marv Won, sharing the Detroit hip hop scene with Proof well before he came to fame. So, when a Rap Grid podcast host asked about the origins of Benzino’s beef with Eminem, Quest MCODY dug into his memory without relying on whatever narrative was constructed later. So, this recent escalation didn’t seem to him as something that came from nowhere.

Everybody knows where it stems from. Em has been poking at pride. Because it’s fun. They’ve got past beef. At some point, the relationship between The Source and Eminem became bitter, and Benzino and Eminem were at the helm of that. It’s been going on for years. Benzino says stuff about Eminemin interviews all the time. Em doesn’t do a lot of interviews, he raps. Sometimes, when he raps, he says something. He felt like saying something this time. The rest is the rest. It pushed Benzino.

I like Eminem as a rapper. I think Eminem is a good rapper. Benzino is not good of a rapper. It’s not a rap beef. I don’t care. When Em says something about it’s just him poking at pride. So I don’t care. I thought the raps were dope. [From Eminem’s side.] Benzino is not a good rapper, and he knows that. He himself said he got help to put it together. If I’m not as good at something as I could be, I go get help. I just think it’s silly to compare the two. I’m not about to sit up and break down and compare a ghostwritten diss track to somebody who was making fun of you with your own raps.

It’s okay to use ghostwriters, as it is okay to use steroids in sports, the rapper says. We will listen and watch while it is entertaining, but those who cannot win clean will never be judged on the same level as people who work for their victory.

Quest MCODY also pointed out the enormous role Eminem played in expanding hip hop audience by bringing millions of new listeners and giving exposure to so many hip hop artists.