DJ Akademiks Vs. The Culture: A Legacy Of L’s & Feuds

He’s developed quite the successful career covering Hip Hop-related news, but not everyone has been on board with DJ Akademiks’ hot takes. For almost 13 years, Akademiks has drifted from host to blogger to podcaster to streamer and everything in between, not only covering rappers’ careers and personal lives, but giving his unsolicited and often scathing opinions. This has culminated in a series of beefs, disturbing allegations of grooming and abuse, and the podcaster being threatened by several artists.

Still, Akademiks, real name Livingston Allen, has taken it all in stride. He uses the visibility to further his career and troll his detractors. He’s been mentioned or referred to in rap lyrics, cementing him as a formidable figure in Hip Hop culture, whether you like him or not. We’re revisiting some of DJ Akademiks’ most controversial moments where he’s taken a few Ls, given some apologies, been banned from platforms, or even worse, continued to goad his opposition to his detriment. From Freddie Gibbs, Megan Thee Stallion, Akademiks has provoked conflict, and he seems to love every minute of it.

Earlier this month, DJ Akademiks was once again thrust into infamy following concerning remarks he made to a 15-year-old streamer. The blogger is known to stream on Discord and Twitch to thousands of viewers who often screen grab and share his videos. Like clockwork, a clip began circulating online showing Ak asking NourGxd, “Yo, Nour, what’s your address? I’m going to send some strippers over there.” The teen seemed uncomfortable and responded with his age, letting Akademiks know he was young. “So?” replied Ak.

Elsewhere during the conversation, things became more akward when Akademiks introduced the topic of sex. “Yo, if Max said he wanted to try f*cking a dude, will you let him f*ck you?” he asked NourGxd. The teen said, “No,” to which Ak continued with, “You always wanted me to be next to you. I could be inside of you. Pause.” The conversation took even more turns when Akademiks posed a hypothetical question to the 15-year-old about having sexual intercourse with a grown woman. NourGxd answered, “It [would be] grooming.”

Later, Twitch disable Akademiks’ channel following a wave of backlash. After becoming a trending topic across viral and mainstream networks, Ak returned in a video to say the episode was a “teachable moment.” He added, “I am wrong. I will be better Hopefully people can learn from this whole little scandal with me.”

This feud dates back to the 2010s when DJ Akademiks claimed on Everyday Struggle that Meek Mill was upset that Ak didn’t promote his album, Wins & Losses. “Meek, he didn’t appreciate I didn’t post his album,” said Akademiks. “However, it was really confusing to me ’cause about six months ago, Meek had sent me a DM. Him and the rest of the ‘Chasers, they gave me a little digital jump and a light one. They said, ‘Listen, either post us this way or don’t post us at all.’” He went on to allege that he was threatened by Meek & Co., so he decided not to post him at all.

In 2020, Meek called for Akademiks to be canceled and on X, reportedly gave the “greenlight” on the blogger. A video later surfaced of Ak supposedly reporting the Philly rapper to the police. “Stop telling the world you’re greenlighting people and just do what you have to do,” said Akademiks. “‘Cause when you said green lighting, I sent that to the police. I’m gonna be honest with you.” Moreover, Akademiks and Meek also got into a fiery back and forth on Clubhouse. The pair were able to squash their beef thanks to 21 Savage, who was also in the chat.

Then, in early 2024, the rift continuted when DJ Akademiks mentioned Meek Mill’s name in connection to a lawsuit brought against Sean “Diddy” Combs. Meek didn’t appreciate it, and the beef was reignited. Meek wrote on X, “Akademiks didn’t I tell you stop playing with my name… idk what ima do when I actually see you! It’s gonna have a combination to it tho!” In March 2024, Meek allegedly blocked Akademiks. Following the recent grooming accusations against Ak, Meek weighed in. “Never follow the heathens,” the rapper stated.

Last year, Diddy’s fall from grace was in headlines across the globe. When accusations and lawsuits first began to surface, many, including DJ Akademiks, questioned why Yung Miami, who famously dated the Bad Boy Records mogul, wasn’t speaking out. However, that wasn’t the beginning of their social media back and forths. Years prior, Akademiks sent shots to the City Girls star after Diddy announed the birth of his seventh child. Ak referred to Yung Miami as Diddy’s “side chick”—a title that didn’t sit well with her.

“Akademiks my name ain’t d*ck so keep it out your mouth!!!” she tweeted him on X. “You the type of N*gga my uncle doing life sentences for B*TCH A** N*GGA!!!!!” Akademiks would go on to say that he received a message from Diddy regarding his remarks. “She a queen, I love her,” Akademiks shared. “She not no side chick no more.” The beef moved into 2023 after Yung Miami insulted Ak during an interview with Jason Lee. Akademiks responded to the mention by saying, “Yung Miami is, to me, a clown. She’s a one-trick pony. She is not talented to do anything else. The only active talent is to be like, ‘Yo, I’m pimping these dudes out.’ While you come out in interviews and you were crying. You [told] Diddy to DM me. ‘Yo, please, he’s calling me a side chick.'”

When Yung Miami was accused of being silent about Diddy’s lawsuits, Akademiks trolled her on X. Later, the rapper shared a clip of a song where she dissed Ak. Insults were thrown around once again, rolling into 2024 when City Girls dropped “50/50,” including the bars targeting Akademiks. “N*gga d**k small, probably why his balls so pissy/ Meat puller on your knees, how you standin’ on the business?/ Akademiks, you a b*tch, why you speakin’ on women?/ Yeah, leave him alone/ Mr. Pocket P*ssy, what you beatin’ on?/ You see this face, I ain’t one of them b*tches you can hang up on.”

When Megan Thee Stallion was reportedly shot by Tory Lanez following a party at Kylie Jenner’s lavish home in Los Angeles, Hip Hop couldn’t stop talking about the incident. Things turned up a notch when Megan publicly named Tory as the assailant, dividing fans and the industry regarding who was telling the truth. Akademiks sided with Lanez and used his platform to antagonize the “Mamushi” hitmaker. The blogger said Megan would get drunk and become aggressive. He harassed her online and posted about her incessently. Once Lanez was charged in the incident, Ak flatly called Megan a liar. He would even share private information about the case, something that was mentioned during Lanez’s trial.

When Megan released new music, DJ Akademiks would call it “trash.” The rapper accused Ak of being a “blog on payroll,” to which he encouraged her to sue him. For years, this beef only increased as anticipation of Tory Lanez’s trial came closer. Then, in the Fall of 2023, Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison after being found guilty of firearms charges. Although Lanez offered an apology to Megan, he still insisted he did not shoot her that fateful July 2020 evening-early morning. Still, Megan Thee Stallion was granted a restraining order against Lanez. DJ Akademiks used the opportunity to go after the Texas native once again.

“I really feel like Meg is doing some of the most horrific things for her career,” he stated. “I’m literally just sitting here and watching Meg torch her own career where she’s saying things or constantly trying to recreate this like ‘victim’ aura that I don’t think people are going for.” He added, “She’s saying she fears Tory is going to shoot her again. And I personally don’t think that’s what it is. I think Meg is tired of criticism. I think she wants to not be reminded of this incident, okay? […] But everything she’s doing constantly reminds us and makes us feel like she was a liar.”

Amid revelations of lawsuits and allegations against Diddy, DJ Akademiks found himself at the center of a rape lawsuit. A woman named Fauziya “Ziya” Abashe filed the suit in May 2024, accusing Ak of “rape, sexual assault, and defamation,” according to The Washington Post. According to Abashe, the alleged incident occurred at Akademiks’ home in July 2022, where she claimed she was sexually assaulted after being drugged. 

In the lawsuit, Abashe detailed her version of events. She stated that she was given an alcoholic beverage before feeling out of sorts. She said she was followed to a hot tub where the first alleged assailant, John Doe 1, started to flirt and make sexual advances. Abashe purported that she faded in and out of consciousness as John Doe 1 and John Doe 2 raped her. Then, in the early morning hours, she alleged she woke up in DJ Akademiks’ bed as he was “brutally raping” her. Abashe also said she wasn’t clear on the details of the evening until Ak offered up security footage of what occurred. As far as the defamation is concerned, Abashe claimed Akademiks spoke ill of her on social media.

Predatory allegations against DJ Akamediks were revealed in 2022 after he made troubling remarks about underage girls. “And to keep it real if you think about it in the bigger scheme of things, there’s not much difference between a 20 or a 17 or a 21 and a 17,” Akademiks said. “Just kinda means one’s a minor and one’s not a minor. But listen, I will say I adopted this rule, which I think is fine. I said, listen, as long as a chick got a college ID, she’s getting f*cked. I don’t care if she 17, I don’t care if she 17 and a half, I don’t care if she just turned 17, she gon’ get this d*ck.”

The backlash was swift, and it didn’t take long for Ak to resurface with an explanation. He claimed he spoke specifically about college girls, but the public wasn’t accepting.  “What I was trying to say is that, either you’re 21 or 20, right?” he said. “And someone’s like, 17, this Is only the college dynamic, right? Because they put four years of kids together, just like they do in high school. I said, usually there’s not much of a difference, like, when you’re in college, you don’t really see the difference and I still believe that.” Akademiks added that if someone attends college with you, men don’t usually ask how old they are. He claimed they assumed the young woman is of age. “I don’t look at it as in a, somebody deliberately looking for kids.”

There was a time when DJ Akademiks worked for Complex alongside Joe Budden as they hosted Everyday Struggle. Even back then, Akademiks stirred up controversy over on a streaming platform after making disparaging remarks about John Legend’s wife, Chrissy Teigen. “Actually, one time she sneak dissed me,” the podcaster stated. “F*ck that hoe. Straight up. John Legend can hear that. Don’t have you b*tch dissing me ’cause I don’t give two f*cks about none of y’all n*ggas.” He continued, “One time she was sneak-dissing me. I don’t play that. I don’t care if you John Legend’s b*tch or any other b*tch. How ’bout you take that f*ckin’ big ass mouth of yours and f*ckin’ weird ass lookin’ face and start promoting your man’s album. Maybe it wouldn’t do 25,000 the f*ckin’ first week.”

It didn’t take long for Complex to swoop in with a suspension. This resulted in Akademiks returning with an apology. “I think I definitely went over the line when I was disrespecting women, he said. Months later, Ak and Complex’s relationship came to an end.

For going on five years, DJ Akademiks and Freddie Gibbs have been involved in a war of words. Often taking to social media to troll and insult one another, the pair have been at the center of viral moments. Back in 2020, Gibbs called Ak a “b*tch” after the podcaster mentioned the rapper’s purported critique of Gunna, referring to the Atlanta artist as a “snitch.” This was in connection to Gunna’s Alford plea in Young Thug’s federal case, and it prompted a beef that continues to this day.

Further, if Gibbs did an interview, Akademiks would jump online to call him out. This has spilled over onto X, where to two fire off tweets about the other with vicious language and harsh takes. More recently, Gibbs went after Akademiks following his grooming allegations, which added fuel to the flame of their animosity. The blogger responded by sharing a video of Destini Creams, the mother of Gibbs’ child, who also happens to be an adult film star.

One of DJ Akademiks’ most memorable viral moments is his tense Everyday Struggle moment with Vic Mensa. It was back in 2017 when Mensa was a guest on the show and let Ak know exactly what he felt about the host weighing in on the violence between rappers and street gangs in Chicago. Akademiks released a War in Chiraq YouTube series that gained traction, but Mensa wasn’t a fan. The rapper felt as if Ak was exploiting people and his city, amplifying dissension.

“I wanted to slap you in your face, honestly,” Mensa said to Akademiks at the time. “And I’m just seeing you here. I’m like this is a tame environment, so I will keep it to my words. But I really feel as if people exactly like you sensationalize and made a following off of clowning situations that we go through in real life. And I think n*ggas ain’t have no right. You specifically, you ain’t never had a right. What ever made you feel like you had a space to have a perspective on our people dying on a daily basis?”

In 2024, Hip Hop was taken over by the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. The two began sparring early in the year, and by the summer, The former-TDE hitmaker’s “Not Like Us” was a diss track that made waves worldwide. For years, DJ Akademiks has prided himself as being Drizzy’s wingman of sorts, often dropping exclusive information or photos in connection with the OVO leader’s releases. His dedication to Drake is well-documented online, so it came as no surprise that he was Team Drizzy when Hip Hop was split in the fracas. 

Additionally, Akademiks also found himself being referenced in the back and forth diss tracks. Lamar gave a nod to Ak on the track “6:16 in LA,” calling the podcaster “compromised.” Despite the pushback from Hip Hop fans, Akademiks continues to thrust himself in the middle of this beef. After Drake filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group and Spotify over “Not Like Us,” Akademiks stated he believed the move would only further boost K.Dot’s sales.