DJ Akademiks Rips Into Kendrick Lamar For Not Expanding West Coast Influence In Hip-Hop

Kendrick Lamar has had one of hip-hop’s most talked-about runs of the decade this year, if not of all time. But DJ Akademiks thinks that he could be doing more. During a recent livestream, the media personality posited that the “Not Like Us” artist hasn’t done what he could do to put the West Coast sound on the map as one of the biggest rappers of the planet. Basically, Ak’s point is that K.Dot is in a very powerful position right now to shape the culture however he wants, and that he’s not taking advantage of that ability to its fullest extent.

Overall, it’s a question of what hip-hop culture expects Kendrick Lamar to do, what he can do as a rap titan right now, and what he should do in order to back up his points. As such, Stans saying that DJ Akademiks is just hating here could be a bit of a mischaracterization on their behalf. But we know that the Compton lyricist sees his influence as more of a personal battle than a career power. He’s always focused on expressing himself and his contradictions through his music, so perhaps he doesn’t even think he should carry this kind of responsibility.

Whether or not you agree with that perspective is another story. After all, Kendrick Lamar is not a perfect artist by any means, an impossible quality to ask of a human being sharing their craft. But there are big opportunities for change. For example, as speculation swirls around a possible beef-squashing between Drake and the Future and Metro Boomin camp, Kendrick could commercially challenge that sound and make other rap corners flock to him for his success.

Of course, DJ Akademiks’ recent remarks may fall under a different context whenever Kendrick Lamar drops his next album. Maybe it’s exactly what Ak proposed in this livestream clip, or he can double down if Kendrick doesn’t fulfill these parameters in his view with a new project. It would need massive commercial success, sonic impact, and successfully resonant artistic messaging for the streamer’s suggestions to complete. Sounds doable enough, right? But Mr. Morale has never pandered to expectations or impositions, nor is he likely to start now.