DJ Akademiks Is Looking Compromised After His Spotify Wrapped Puts Kendrick Lamar Over Drake
|While DJ Akademiks is probably the biggest Drake supporter in hip-hop media right now as far as his reach, he’s certainly not the most delusional, unreasonable, or biased OVO fan… Or Kendrick Lamar fan, for that matter. Still, he received a pretty fiery cooking on social media from both sides for having “Not Like Us” rank as his top song on his Spotify Wrapped, whereas “euphoria” landed at number three. Drizzy’s “Family Matters” and “Push Ups” landed at numbers four and five respectively, which is incredibly ironic considering all the smoke the media personality has for K.Dot. But how much does this really matter?
After all, haven’t we all had that experience reacting to our streaming service wrap-ups? We come across them and sometimes think, “How the heck did that song/artist make it so high?” In fact, DJ Akademiks had an explanation for why Kendrick Lamar landed as his number two artist behind only Drake and above Lil Durk, NBA YoungBoy, and Future. “Normally Kendrick Lamar wouldn’t sniff my spotify wrapped.. but he’s #2 on mine,” he tweeted. “The explanation for that is thats what happens when u beef with every1 favorite rapper.. we gotta listen to ur s**t too cuz of the beef. Beefing when its just musical competition helps both artists.”
DJ Akademiks Gets Cooked By Both Drake & Kendrick Lamar Fans For His Spotify Wrapped
However, Kendrick Lamar and Drake were not the only artists that DJ Akademiks was obsessed with this year. In fact, one of his previous artistic associations – which seemingly continues to this day – is with Playboi Carti, as he even appeared on his 2020 album Whole Lotta Red via a vocal sample from his livestream. Recently, the Opium boss even reposted a tweet from Ak to promote his upcoming album, one that fans still express skepticism over.
Meanwhile, beyond DJ Akademiks, the fallout of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef is still a huge part of public discussion around both artists. The former can’t even add a second Toronto show to his “Grand National” stadium tour with SZA due to high demand without fans connecting it to the battle. But who knows? Maybe there really will be another chapter when that concert rolls around.
About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022.
Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case.
Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.
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