Livingston Allen, a.k.a. DJ Akademiks, slammed Kendrick Lamar for his recent interview with a non-hip-hop outlet. During his livestream on DJ Akademiks TV on Tuesday, October 22, 2024, the internet personality called Lamar a hypocrite, stating:
“A guy who claims he’s standing on morals and principles, but every time we see his actions, it seems like it’s not the truth. A guy who says he’s only for the culture, but as soon as he gets an opportunity to go get on a platform that’s non-cultural, he runs to it.”
The YouTuber is referencing K. Dot’s profile published by Harper’s Bazaar on Monday. In his interview, the Compton rapper spoke about his feud with Drake, his music, personal life, and plans for the future.
At one point during his rant, Akademiks said that Kendrick Lamar called Drake a colonizer who used his black heritage for profit, despite the latter supposedly making more effort than Kenny to connect with various hip-hop personalities, saying:
“At least Drake tried to tap in with me, Kai (Cenat)…”
Internet users were quick to react to Akademiks’ comments, slamming him for his continued criticism of Kendrick Lamar Lamar. One rhetorically questioned:
“Kai Cenat is the culture?”
To be noted, Cenet is a popular YouTuber whose content centers around gaming and comedy.
Some netizens agreed with the internet personality’s comments, noting Harper’s Bazaar was a white women’s fashion magazine and had nothing to do with hip-hop.
“Why Harper’s Bazaar tho…a women’s fashion magazine,” a fan questioned.
“Yall are literally mad at AK and Kai than yall are at Kendrick for going to a WHITE PUBLICATION after he went an entire summer saying “Not like us” his fans are the dumbest creatures walking this planet,” @FlageyGod remarked.
However, others pointed out that Drake, too, interviewed with a magazine outside his industry (cover of a fly fishing magazine, The Drake: For Those Who Fish, this fall).
Some explained that it was Sza who interviewed Kenny, noting the rapper’s several other interviews with hip-hop personalities. While others noted that Harper’s Bazaar’s editor in chief is Samira Nasr (the first black woman to hold the title).
“Drake just interviewed with a fishing magazine btw,” another commented.
“N*gga what are you whining about? Kendrick has sat down with big boy hella times, Sway, Rick Rubin, The breakfast club ETC. HIS ENTIRE CAREER, he does 1 non hip hop interview and now you acting like it’s a trend?” @__Peac3__ added.
“He did the interview with SZA. lol not my fav choice but Ak is deranged and obsessed with anything remotely anti Kendrick, lol,” @RevereRomance wrote.
“The reach is incredible. Just say you’re mad Ak that Kendrick got the interview from a major publication as a hip hop artist and Drake didn’t after the beef lol,” a user stated.
“He’s playing with y’all”— DJ Akademiks claims Kendrick Lamar used the hip-hop culture to his benefit
In his livestream, DJ Akademiks claimed Kendrick Lamar used the hip-hop culture to his benefit. He called him out talking about morals and principles but never following it in action (referring to him interviewing with a “non-cultural” platform). Comparing Kenny to Jay-Z (who Akademiks claims has done multiple times), he remarked:
“I love it when n*ggas like Kendrick roc you b**ches to sleep and with this culture… culture… culture… sh*t, sh*ts on you every single time.”
Livingston Allen illustrated his point by noting Kendrick Lamar’s alleged hypocrisy regarding Colin Kaepernick. He claimed that the rapper stood with the former NFL player only to turn his back to accept the Super Bowl 2025 halftime show gig.
For the unversed, in 2016, star football player Kaepernick kneeled during the national anthem at the NFL games to protest police brutality and racial injustice. In its aftermath, the footballer remained unsigned, with critics claiming it was so because of his political stance. He still remains unsigned.
Per an October 2017 article by Bleacher Report, around the time, Kendrick Lamar performed Mary J. Blige’s version of American Skin (41 Shots) in support of Kaepernick. Again in 2017, during the Forbes Under 30 summit, the Compton-born rapper offered his support, saying:
“He wants to stand for something. Simple as that. You don’t look at the moment, whether it’s gonna work or not. No, you look at what the next generation is gonna receive from it.”
Kendrick Lamar and Drake beefed earlier this year, with both dropping diatribes aimed at the other’s career and personal lives. This included Drake’s Family Matters and Kenny’s Euphoria. By May, the rap feud lost its steam, but it still continues to fuel discourse about the hip-hop industry.
Additionally, during (and months after) the beef, several fans, critics, and personalities took sides. Those like DJ Akademics spoke in support of Drizzy, while others like Joe Budden championed K.Dot.
DJ Akademiks continued his rant, calling out personalities in the industry like DJ Hed and Elliott Wilson, who spoke in favor of Kendrick Lamar. He remarked that when the time came for the rapper to give an interview, he ignored them in favor of Harper’s Bazaar. He added:
“I like when the artist plays in the fact of ya n*ggas. Yeah, he’s playing with ya’ll.”
DJ Akademiks continued to assert that he said this before, but no one believed him. He stated that Kendrick Lamar now has the power to bring about a cultural change, but he just wanted to win. He claimed that now that Kenny has “used the culture” and won, he turned his back on hip-hop.
Kendrick Lamar has not publicly reacted to the development.
Edited by Somava
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