Overall, Joe Budden is one of the most popular and heralded figures in hip-hop media. While some people seem to be jealous of that, Budden continues to do his own thing. Throughout the past year, he has found himself in feuds with a ton of artists. Ari Lennox, NBA YoungBoy, and even Drake have found themselves at odds with the rapper-turned-podcaster. Now that Drake and Kendrick Lamar are beefing, fans have been looking towards Joe’s opinion on everything. After all, he seems to always have an inside scoop.
This weekend, Joe did a podcast episode with DJ Akademiks. During this episode, Ak tried to get to the bottom of Budden’s previous issues with Drake. As Budden explained, he really doesn’t have any issues with Drizzy. Instead, he respects the man as an artist. He just always has tough love for creators, and that comes through for the megastar. This led to some pressure from Akademiks, who continued to question Budden. That is when Joe revealed that a lot of his Drake intel doesn’t even come from OVO. It actually just comes from escorts.
“I think most of my Drake intel today comes from my love of escorts,” Joe explained. “I’m not trying to be funny. The escorts just always know. The escorts are ground level to it all. The escorts are the CIA of the subway system.” It is a very unique admission, and not one that everyone would be willing to make. However, Budden has always been shameless in the past. That said, this certainly implies something about Drake, and an alleged similar interest. Either way, Budden remains an entertaining figure.
Let us know what you think about these comments from Joe Budden, in the comments section down below. Do you believe that he is too much of a Drake hater? Have you been amused by his back and forths with the megastar? Additionally, stay tuned to HNHH for the latest news and updates from around the music world. We will continue to keep you informed on all of your favorite artists and their upcoming projects.
Adam22 is furious with Joe Budden and thinks that No Jumper, VladTV, and DJ Akademiks are the three biggest hip-hop outlets. In a video on No Jumper’s social media pages, he compared the views for both his pages and Budden’s.
Adam began by claiming that someone sent him a clip of Budden remarking that No Jumper is in bad shape. “Let’s do the science,” he responded. “Joe Budden’s channel has gotten 12 million views in the past month. No Jumper’s main channel plus our clips channel has done about 26 or 27 million views for the past month. So, we are two times, by far, what you have going on. And on top of that, we kill it on Facebook. We kill it on Snapchat. We have 3 million followers on Instagram and we make a huge amount of money on there.”
LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA – OCTOBER 30: Adam22 (L) and Drake speak during Drake’s Till Death Do Us Part rap battle on October 30, 2021 in Long Beach, California. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images)
From there, Adam added: “Joe Budden, I don’t wanna hear sh*t. You’re running a chop shop. You might have the whole hip-hop media gassed into thinking that you’re really killing it like that but trust me, when you wanna talk about who’s really doing business out here, it’s not you. There’s a big three and you’re not in it. It’s me, Vlad, and that fat motherf*cker you were sitting with.” Despite posting it on No Jumper, many of the fans in the comments section disagreed with Adam. “No jumper had potential to be the top but y’all cover more LA gang bangin and p**n than hiphop,” one top comment reads. Another argued: “It’s Akademiks, Say Cheese & The shade room Tbh.”
DJ Akademiks sat down with Joe Budden on his eponymous podcast, Monday, to get to the bottom of his issues with Drake. The two reflected on Budden’s back and forth with the Toronto rapper following the release of For All The Dogs, last year. At the time, Budden accused Drake of “rapping for the kids” with the project.
After explaining that his own criticism of the project came from the place of an “entitled fan,” Akademiks explained: “I think your criticism was a little bit different. I remember asking him, because me and him had a conversation. I was like, ‘I’ve supported your music, reviewed it, and whatever for over a decade now. You kinda seem sensitive for the very first time about criticism.’ And he was like, ‘Nah, Joe’s criticism wasn’t just regular criticism. This n***a, he knows me.’” In response, Budden labeled that unfair and explained that he doesn’t actually know him like that.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – MAY 01: Drake poses with the awards for Top Artist, Top Male Artist, Top Billboard 200 Album for “Scorpion”, in the press room during the 2019 Billboard Music Awards at MGM Grand Garden Arena on May 01, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Amy Sussman/Getty Images for dcp)
As for the comments that set Drake off, Budden argued at the time: “He rappin’ for the children. Yo dog, I had to look up how old this n***a was when I finished listening to the album. You are 36. Your birthday is in 20 days. I Googled that, too. You’re going to be 37 years old. Get the f*ck away from some of these younger n****s. And stop f*cking these 25-year-olds. I want to hear adult Drake rapping for adult people. … He’s rapping for the kids, the streams, the accolades. He ain’t trying to rap for me. I accept that.”
The full conversation between Akademiks and Budden is still only available on Patreon. Check out a clip of the interview above. Be on the lookout for further updates on DJ Akademiks and Joe Budden as well as the Drake drama on HotNewHipHop.
Out of the many shots that Drake had for Kendrick Lamar on his leaked “Push Ups” diss track, one in particular instilled fear in the hearts of even the most hardcore OVO fans. “I be with some bodyguards like Whitney,” he rapped on the cut, referencing his security detail and Whitney Houston’s role in the film The Bodyguard. However, the real notable aspect of this bar is that K.Dot’s partner’s name is Whitney Alford, and the common interpretation is that The Boy is claiming that she cheated on him with his bodyguards. As DJ Akademiks recently explained on his livestream, this is a very dangerous game for him to play again considering how this worked out for him the first time.
“Drake… you did the same thing twice now,” DJ Akademiks pointed out. “You mentioned Virginia Williams or whatever, Pusha T’s wife. And you saw that n***a took the gloves off, and we saw what happened. You mentioned Whitney, and Kendrick Lamar’s wife’s name is Whitney. You have to be prepared for anything! There is no, ‘Oh, nah, I can’t believe you said that.’ No! ‘Cause you’re talking crazy already, too. This is a knock-them-out slugfest, this is no holds barred, this is, ‘I don’t care what that n***a says!’ He could expose…”
Furthermore, this is a hot topic of debate for rap fans now, especially those who remember the savagery of Pusha T’s “The Story Of Adidon.” Still, DJ Akademiks still thinks that Drake has the leg-up right now, and that Kendrick Lamar is “on the clock” to respond quickly with a retort. Many continue to debate over whether either MC can really beat the other, considering the wildly different lanes they occupy. Also, it seems like no matter what happens in this beef, neither fanbase will ever be able to reconcile with the other.
Meanwhile, who do you think will “win” this showdown? Does the Whitney bar pose a grave threat to the 6ix God now or is the Compton lyricist the more affected target? However you may feel, drop your thoughts in the comments section down below. Also, log back into HNHH for more news and the latest updates on DJ Akademiks, Drake, and Kendrick Lamar.
DJ Akademiks says that Drake messaged him on Sunday night to confirm that the “Hi Whitney” diss track he played on stream was A.I. and not official. The fan-made song makes numerous references to Kendrick Lamar’s wife, Whitney Alford. It’s a separate song from the first leaked track from the Toronto rapper, “Push Ups,” on which he targets Lamar, The Weeknd, Rick Ross, Metro Boomin, and more. Despite being fake, Akademiks is still a fan of the energy on the track.
“He did hit me,” Akademiks revealed. “I guess when I was playing that ‘Hi Whitney’ sh*t, he said that’s A.I. He said 100% A.I. So, I’m gonna take his word, but I ain’t gonna lie to you. That sh*t is slick… That’s really the Drake bag I want him to get into. It’s not necessarily that track. That’s the bag I want him to get into. The slick talk but direct talk over some smooth beat.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 03: Drake performs on day 1 of the New Look Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park on July 3, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)
The drama began when Kendrick Lamar dissed both Drake and J. Cole with his verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That,” last month. The attack sparked a seemingly all-out blitz on Drake with The Weeknd, ASAP Rocky, and more shading him in new songs. He finally fired back with the leaked track, “Push Ups,” last week. While Lamar has yet to respond, Rick Ross had a diss track ready to go within hours. On his song, he accused Drake of getting a nose job and referred to him as a “white boy.” He called Ross “angry” and “racist” in response.
DJ Akademiks Shares News From Drake
New Update Akademiks confirms new drake diss “Hi Whitney” is AI. Source:Drake pic.twitter.com/RYScFoWn7D
CJ Francis IV is catching a lot of smoke these days amid claims that he ghostwrote for Kendrick Lamar and other artists. Moreover, DJ Akademiks recently tweeted that he apparently spoke to Roddy Ricch, supposedly one of these other artists, who claimed that Francis is not for real. “Spoke with Roddy Ricch,” Ak wrote on Sunday night (April 14). “According to him CJ FRANCIS a complete fraud.. Roddy was open to collaborate with others for his Feed The Strets 3 about 2 years ago project and basically this dude he never met and no songs ever got put out that he collabed on. The voice note that [released] was Roddy checking him 2 years ago for claiming he was writing for Roddy Ricch.”
Furthermore, you can see fans antagonizing CJ Francis in the comments section of the post below, with some defenses too. After all, this is all still speculative, although some possible proof mounted up against these claims of ghostwriting recently. Specifically, these related to older demos of Kendrick Lamar’s “N95” than his alleged version of the song that K.Dot used as a reference track. Also, CJ Francis himself had this to say: “I had nothing to do with that song. Nor do I have anything to do with it being posted online.”
As such, none of this really seems to be his fault, so perhaps fans should attribute blame to two tweets that went viral on the subject instead. “Quentin Miller associate CJ Francis IV ghostwriting for Kendrick Lamar,” a Twitter user’s incendiary remarks on the matter read, kicking this whole thing off. “This is his demo of N95 (2022). I’d say this is a collab, but his name isn’t on the credits [ghost emoji].” “My boy CJ Francis IV wrote on the Kendrick project man,” another now-viral tweet from a user back in 2022 read. “I’m so f***in gassed for my boy!!!! He one of the most talented people in the world bro this s**t is so next level!!!”
Meanwhile, this all is obviously notable thanks to the Kendrick and Drake beef that’s dominating hip-hop discourse right now. Regardless, do these words from Roddy and Ak seal the deal on all this or are you still skeptical? Whatever the case, let us know in the comments down below. Also, check back in with HNHH for more news and the latest updates on Roddy Ricch, DJ Akademiks, the CJ Francis situation, and Kendrick Lamar.
DJ Akademiks resorted to alcohol after hearing Rick Ross’ diss track, “Champagne Moments,” aimed at Drake. While reacting to the song live, he had to step out of the room for an extended stretch before returning with a bottle of Hennessy.
Already appearing in shock, things took a turn for the worse for Akademiks when Ross rapped: “You ain’t never wanna be a n***a anyway, n***a, that’s why you got operation to make ya’ nose smaller than ya’ father nose, n***a. I unfollowed you, n***a, ’cause you sent a motherf*ckin’ cease and desist to French Montana, n***a. You sent the police, n***a, hated on the dog project.” Akademiks paused the track and walked out. When he returned, he remarked: “I gotta stress drink.” He added: “They’re attacking my goat. Ross responded in an hour. I can’t believe it, I can’t f*cking believe it. I thought they wasn’t even really beefing.”
MIAMI GARDENS, FLORIDA – MARCH 09: Rick Ross performs at the 2024 Miami Jazz In The Gardens Festival at Hard Rock Stadium on March 09, 2024 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Ivan Apfel/Getty Images)
Elsewhere in the track, Ross referred to Drake as a “white boy,” which the Toronto rapper took particular issue with afterward. Drake shared a screenshot of a text he sent to his mother explaining the feud and labeled Ross “angry” and “racist.” He wrote: “It’s coming from the guy I did songs with. He’s gone loopy off the Mounjaro. He hasn’t eaten in days, and it’s turned him angry and racist.” Check out Akademiks’ response to the diss below.
While Rick Ross has now responded to Drake’s leaked “Push Ups” diss, fans are still waiting on word from Kendrick Lamar, who kicked off the drama with his verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s “Like That.” Be on the lookout for further updates on DJ Akademiks on HotNewHipHop.
Now that Drake’s leaked diss has officially set the stage for what might be the biggest rap battle we’ve seen since Jay-Z and Nas, everyone has one question dominating their mind: when and how will Kendrick Lamar respond? It’s important to note that the OVO mogul went for three full weeks since “Like That” before dropping a response on wax (albeit indirectly but… who’s buying that this wasn’t calculated?). Now, folks like DJ Akademiks think that K.Dot has a limited time to respond, as he expressed with a recent tweet. “You are on the clock,” he quote-tweeted a post from his TV page about this Drizzy line on the leak: “You had a song for four years, drop that s**t or shut your mouth.”
Furthermore, this is obviously inspiring a lot of debate among rap fans, especially given Rick Ross’ lightning-fast response to the shots he caught on the leak. Some folks think that Kendrick Lamar should at least have as much time as Drake had in the public eye to drop a lyrical retaliation. Others think that the aforementioned “four years” bar puts a bit more pressure on him to act fast. Also, we have to consider that the 6ix God didn’t just have to write up returning fire for the Compton lyricist, but for Rozay, Future, Metro Boomin, and what feels like half of the mainstream rap game.
In fact, DJ Akademiks had previously said that Drake doesn’t have a time limit at all. His explanation pointed to the fact that Kendrick Lamar’s “Like That” was just a short verse, not a full song, and thus was more of a warning shot. However, now that The Boy dropped four minutes’ worth of relentless attacks, the media personality thinks there’s some real pressure on the table. It makes sense when you look at the historical timeline of previous rap feuds, including the Toronto superstar’s own.
Still, it doesn’t change the fact that the overall conversation and hype around these very different tracks is basically the same, so it’s a level playing field in the public eye. Plus, “Like That” was a very direct attack against Aubrey, so it’s not like he was just taking his time to decide whether to really fall for presumed bait or not. While DJ Akademiks thinks that the “Wick Man” spitter will come out on top when all the smoke clears, we want to hear your predictions for this beef in the comments. As always, for more news and the latest updates on Ak, Kendrick Lamar, and Drake, stay logged into HNHH.
DJ Akademiks is notorious for his many feuds and spats in the rap game, whether that’s with artists, other commentators, or anyone caught in the crossfire. As such, there have been plenty of challenges for him to face off in a boxing match, and it looks like he wants to keep those skills sharp… or at least try. Moreover, a clip recently emerged of the media personality sparring with a colleague, and the comments section under the video below is not very forgiving. “No wonder he only beefs with females,” one user commented, while another added, “All that mouth and that’s all he got to offer.”
Furthermore, a lot of people remarked that DJ Akademiks should stick to what he’s known for rather than try to pick a fight or go all out. It’s a fair point, and not necessarily a negative one: I’m happy to keep my 127 pounds glued to the keyboard rather than look for problems. But it’s ironic considering his dismissal of J. Cole’s apology to Kendrick Lamar for his diss, which he absolutely blasted as a cop-out and as a betrayal of hip-hop. While that’s another fair point, it also lacks the nuance of understanding that it’s much more brave to admit a lack of malice than to fabricate a lack of mercy.
Elsewhere, we’re sure that the former Everyday Struggle host will continue to battle his many opps. Some of them are too big to face, others he’s cautiously avoidant of, and some like Yung Miami are ones that he never intends to fight in the first place. It’s curious to see when DJ Akademiks decides to invoke a physical confrontation and when he goes truly merciless with his words. There are a lot of examples to support these interpretations, so we’ll see if he ever proves himself wrong at some point.
Meanwhile, even painted nails were enough to continue a long-running feud with Lil Baby. Maybe sometimes, any little thing could inspire a lengthy Twitter rant or explosive livestream moment. Let’s see if anything happens if folks start circulating this boxing clip more widely. For more news and the latest updates on DJ Akademiks, log back into HNHH.
Numerous ups and downs have marked the dynamic between Meek Mill and Akademiks in recent years. Their ongoing feud escalated dramatically this year, culminating in Meek Mill blocking DJ Akademiks on X. The heated exchange between the two also played out extensively on the platform. For those unfamiliar with the origins of their conflict, here’s a timeline outlining the evolution of their feud.
The beef between the Off the Record host and Meek Mill began in 2017 following the release of Meek’s Wins & Losses album. In a 2017 episode of Everyday Struggle, Akademiks detailed the start of the beef, asserting that it stemmed from his failure to adequately promote the album on his platform. “Meek, he didn’t appreciate I didn’t post his album,” he explained. “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.’”
Akademiks went on to say that Meek and the ‘Chasers soon began threatening him. He claims that that’s when he decided not to post the artist at all. “Next thing I’m seeing, they were threatening me,” he continued. ‘When I see him, I’ma gonna give him a wedgie, I’ma slap him.’ I’m like, ‘Oh shit! I think I’m posting them wrong.’ So, I stopped posting them.”
At the end of June 2020, Meek Mill attempted to get Akademiks canceled. He claimed that the host helped escalate beef that had gotten people killed and had never contributed positively to the culture. He took to X and wrote: “Akademiks canceled because he’s a bad police and our culture don’t need them… he also gassed a lot of beef that got people killed and hurt and never donated a dollar to the culture! We gon holla at you next run champ lol.”
A few days later, Meek Mill threatened to “greenlight” Akademiks on X, claiming that the host only made money “off the trenches.” However, Akademiks turned the tables against Meek. In a live video, Akademiks admitted that he had called the police on Meek Mill for trying to green-light him. He stated: “Just remember that Meek Mill is nothing but a hypocrite… I know Ak is supposed to be the dude who like you could just get everything off on. Cool, I’m just trying to tell you that bro, I‘m just not into being bullied… Stop telling the world you’re greenlighting people and just do what you have to do. ‘Cause when you said green lighting, I sent that to the police. I’m gonna be honest with you.”
The beef between the rapper and host reached boiling point in December 2020 on the Clubhouse app. The two went toe to toe, exchanging harsh words. Meek Mill also used the opportunity to bring up Akademiks fueling beef with other rappers. Thankfully, rapper 21 Savage was also in the Clubhouse at the time and mediated between the two.
After the chat, both Meek Mill and Akademiks took to X to praise 21 Savage for his commendable act. Meek wrote: “If you was there you know it was a great start for communication in hip hop! The way 21 handled it inspired me and was a good highlight!” Similarly, Akademiks also posted, “21 savage one of the realest n***as in Hip Hop. he can call a n***a on their bullshit but still fw then & accept them 4 what they r.. if anybody ever seen the convo we had … we talked privately the same exact way. I appreciate a n***a being himself no matter who in the room.”
Following the peace that was brought finally between Meek Mill and Akademiks, the podcast host sat with The Breakfast Club two years later and praised 21 Savage once more for helping to squash the beef between him and Meek. “21 Savage did something I thought was very dope,” he began. “He gave this explanation, he said, ‘When two friends are going at it, if it goes far enough, you got to pick a side.’ And he basically said it was going to a point where he was going to be forced to be like, ‘Yo, are you really rocking with this nigga Ak or you rocking over here?’”
February 2024: Akademiks Calls Meek Mill Out
The beef between the two was reignited in February 2024, after Akademiks presented excerpts from a 73-page lawsuit against Diddy. In the document, Meek’s name was notably absent. However, Akademiks specifically referred to Meek as one of the persons mentioned in the suit. Akademiks called Meek out, stating: “you been tweeting about everything on planet Earth. If you don’t get a Twitter rant saying you about to get Lil Rod killed, you bout to shoot up his block, blow up his momma’s house… This n***a saying you and Diddy were fornicating! What the f**k? Meek!?”
Meek Mill, however, took offense in the video and immediately came after Akademiks on X. He ranted: “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!” Soon after, Akademiks responded with a tweet of his own, showing his confusion as to why Meek was angry at him, especially since he didn’t believe the claims made in the lawsuit.
What followed was an intense battle between the two on the platform. Their tweets were filled with harsh words and insults, with Meek even threatening the host’s life. Meek also called Akademiks an alcoholic, and the host in return, said that Meek had fallen off. He also insisted that Meek was only mad because there was speculation about his sexuality.
In early March, Akademiks went on live stream and called out Meek Mill for their ongoing beef on X. In the live stream, he then revealed that the police were present at his doorstep, and attributed and alleged that Meek had summoned them. Later in the month, the “Going Bad” rapper revealed on X that he planned to block Akademiks on the social media platform. Meek Mill eventually tweeted that he had finally followed through with his plans. Alongside a screenshot of him blocking Akademiks, he wrote: “Okay it’s over y’all I wanted to see how many days I could make a bad geek lose sleep lol I blocked him.” When Akademiks found out that he could no longer access Meek’s X page, he took it in stride. He happily declared himself the winner of their online war. He tweeted: “No Way Meek Mill blocked Me… I out tweeted Mr Twitter Fingers himself.”
(@nojumper)
Akademiks confirms new drake diss “Hi Whitney” is AI. Source:Drake 