Drake

Joe Budden Tells DJ Akademiks To Stop Reporting About Drake

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Joe Budden is a polarizing figure in hip-hop media. He’s been called a hypocrite, especially with regards to his personal life. He’s also been called a hater, as seen in his infamous Lil Yachty interview. The former rapper does make some good points, however. He reflected on the Drake coverage that DJ Akademiks has been doing in recent weeks, and he sees a problem. In Budden’s estimation, Ak’s bias towards the 6 God has made him an unreliable source for fans.

Budden broke it down on an episode of the Joe Budden Podcast. He applauded DJ Akademiks for his journalism skills, but criticized the way Ak has shared it. He pointed to the recent bot allegations that were made against Kendrick Lamar during the NBA finals as a prime example. “Ak is the one on stream during the NBA finals,” Budden asserted. “Good journalistic sh*t you was doing, but you gotta know that any Drake news coming from you is viewed through a different type of eye.” The former Slaughterhouse member pointed to Ak’s relationship with Drake as the problem.

Read More: Jay-Z Called “Cap” On Alleged Beanie Sigel Betrayal, Joe Budden Reveals

Joe Budden Tried To Give His Former Co-Host Advice

DJ Akademiks shared messages he got from Drake during the Kendrick Lamar battle. Drake even used a sample of Ak on the diss song “Push Ups.” Joe Budden correctly noted that whenever Ak tries to defend Drake, it will look like he’s being given orders by the rapper. “It comes off as a mission sent from Drake,” he explained. His advice to both DJ Akademiks and Drake is to take a couple plays off. Especially in the wake of Kendrick Lamar’s “Pop Out” concert, which was an overwhelming success. “It’s too much to fight,” he added. “You’re gonna look away.”

Joe Budden ultimately urged DJ Akademiks to stop proselytizing on Drake’s behalf. “Ak is the mouth piece,” he complained. “As a Drake fan, I want Ak to stop announcing things about Drake… The Drake releases are much better as a surprise. Anything with Ak reporting it, it just looked a way.” Joe Budden wrapped up his statement by assuring fans that he has respect for DJ Akademiks. He did throw him a bit of a dig, however, when he said that Ak doesn’t care about criticisms because Drake is a “brand builder.” He’s not wrong.

Read More: Drake Fans Theorize He Was Taking A Shot At Joe Budden With His “One Trick Ponies” Post

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The Game Clarifies His Friendship With Drake Amidst Kendrick Battle

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The Game had a lot to get off his chest on June 20. The rapper was tired of the rumors that he was beefing with Kendrick Lamar. He was also annoyed by those same rumors serving as the reason why he didn’t attend Lamar’s “Pop Out” show on Juneteenth. The Game got on Instagram Live to clear the air. He also clarified where he stood with Kendrick Lamar and Drake, which has been a controversial topic over the last few months. The claim that The Game supported Drake over a Compton rapper isn’t true. Well, mostly not true.

The rapper made a point of giving Kendrick Lamar his flowers. He dubbed the “Pop Out” show an “amazing” feat, and praised Lamar for being “big-hearted” and sharing the spotlight. The Game also made it clear that he hasn’t turned his back on Drake. He considers the rapper to be a friend, no matter what happens between him and Kendrick Lamar. “As far as my relationship with Drake,” he said. “Drake is my n**ga, I f*ck with Drake.” He went on to compliment the 6 God for being there when he’s needed, and for providing things for Game’s family whenever he can. “My loyalty is with muthaf**kas that’s loyal to me,” he added. “Drizzy, he know what the f*ck it is when he see me.”

Read More: The Game Criticizes J Cole For “Watering Down” Rap Battles

The Game Is Still Close Friends With The 6 God

The Game also praised Drake for his handling of the Kendrick Lamar battle. He doesn’t make a ruling on who won, but he felt both men delivered. “I think what [Kendrick] doing is amazing,” he asserted. “What Drake doing is amazing. I think them n**gas just came out of one of the biggest hip-hop beefs ever and survived. Tupac and Biggie didn’t.” Fans may be surprised to see The Game play a centrist role in such a volatile beef, but he’s always done this with Lamar and Drake. He had both artists featured on 2011’s The R.E.D. Album. He linked back up with Drizzy for the 2015 album The Documentary 2, and made a point of getting a Lamar verse as well. The Game has never tipped his hand one way or the other.

The Game is famous for picking fights with other rappers. He recently dropped a diss track on Rick Ross out of the blue. Things have evidently changed. The rapper told his IG followers that he doesn’t want to get involved in a situation that he isn’t already part of. “As far as the Kendrick and Drake sh*t,” he stated. “That’s Kendrick and Drake sh*t. That sh*t ain’t for me man. I had to navigate myself through this sh*t. I been in this sh*t since 2003 being a solid a*s n**ga to everybody.” It’s hard to imagine a time when The Game isn’t beefing, but we’ll take him at his word.

Read More: The Game Clowns Sean Kingston’s Mother After Her Mugshot Surfaces Online

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Why Did Kendrick Lamar Call Out Drake For Tupac’s Ring At ‘The Pop Out’?

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kendrick lamar The Pop Out – Ken & Friends Presented by pgLang and Free Lunch
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Kendrick Lamar’s The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert — at Kia Forum in Inglewood, California on Wednesday night, June 19 — was bookended by Lamar reasserting his deep hatred for Drake. Lamar began his set with “Euphoria,” and his instantly iconic finale involved running through “Not Like Us” five times (six, if you count the instrumental as he left the stage) — both live debuts of his Drake diss tracks.

Fans noticed something different about “Euphoria,” as explained below.

Why Did Kendrick Lamar Call Out Drake For Tupac’s Ring At The Pop Out?

While performing “Euphoria” live for the first time, Lamar added a bar: “Give me Tupac’s ring back, and I might give you a lil respect.”

Last July, Drake bought a custom ring formerly belonging to the late Tupac Shakur at an auction. USA Today reported at the time that Drake dropped more than $1 million for the ring, which Sotheby’s described in a press release as “an exceedingly rare piece of Tupac’s signature aesthetic and a slice of hip-hop history” while confirming that Drake was the purchaser “after Shakur’s grandmother and lifelong supporter, Yaasmyn Fula, put it up for auction.”

Seeing as Tupac was a cornerstone for West Coast rap — Lamar has since taken on the mantle — and Drake has absolutely no allies within Los Angeles rap, it makes sense that Drake owning anything related to Tupac doesn’t sit well with Lamar.

Tangentially related, Lamar name-checked Tupac twice (“You think the Bay gon’ let you disrespect ‘Pac, n****?” & “Yeah, it’s all eyes on me, and I’ma send it up to ‘Pac”) in “Not Like Us” after Drake used AI-generated voices of Tupac and Snoop Dogg on “Taylor Made Freestyle,” one of his Kendrick diss tracks from April. Drake took a massive L on that — deleting it from social media after Tupac’s estate threatened legal action.

Drake Got Eviscerated At Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Pop Out’ Concert And People Can’t Help But Imagine His Reaction

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Given that yesterday (June 19) was Juneteenth, it was a relatively slow news day in the music world. That is, except for one thing: Last night, Kendrick Lamar hosted The Pop Out — Ken & Friends, a special concert event that wasn’t about the Drake feud, but was also totally about the Drake feud. A number of Lamar’s Drake diss tracks made the setlist, most notably “Not Like Us,” which was performed five times in a row to end the show.

Folks online took notice: Drake became the No. 1 trending topic on X (formerly Twitter) and still is as of this post on Thursday morning.

A lot of the reactions were people imagining Drake’s reaction to the show, particularly to the repetition of “Not Like Us,” with tweets comedically imagining Drake feeling anger, frustration, or sadness.

Others just admired the whole situation. As one user put it, “17,000+ people gathered together in one place to call Drake a pedophile with Kendrick Lamar. This level of hate will never be duplicated.” Another noted, “Not Like Us to Drake is how Back To Back was for Meek [crying laughing emoji] Kendrick preformed the song 4 times and the entire arena rapped it word for word all 4 times.”

Check out some more reactions below.

Kendrick Lamar’s Fiancée Whitney Alford And Kids Spotted At “Pop Out” Show

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Kendrick Lamar was declared the winner of the Drake battle. His songs hit harder, and did better on the Billboard charts. If there was any doubt as to whether he was the victor, it was squashed on Juneteenth. The rapper put on his “Pop Out” show in Los Angeles, which featured appearances from a host of icons and TDE affiliates. The most surprising appearance of the night, however, came from Kendrick Lamar’s fiancée, Whitney Alford.

Alford was spotted by fans during the concert. iPhone footage was taken of Alford sitting next to her and Lamar’s kids. Innocuous on the surface, but those who have been keeping up with the Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake battle know that Alford’s presence was not guaranteed going into the evening. Drake has made grim accusations against Lamar on record. Many of them had to do with Alford, and the rumor that the Compton rapper has been abusive towards her. Drake made this claim on the chilling “Family Matters.” “They hired a crisis management team,” he spit. “To clean up the fact that you beat on your queen.”

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Blows The Roof Off Of The KIA Forum As Dr. Dre Intros “Not Like Us”

Kendrick Lamar’s Family Was In Attendance

Drake also cast doubt on Alford’s relationship with Kendrick Lamar’s business partner, Dave Free. He went as far as to speculate that Free is the real father of Lamar and Alford’s son. These rumors have persisted for weeks. Fans pointed out that Whitney Alford failed to wish Lamar a Happy Father’s Day, despite previously wishing herself a Happy Mother’s Day on social media. Drake’s accusations have remained purely speculative, however. Alford has never addressed the rapper’s claims, nor has she publicly spoken about her relationship with Lamar.

The only time Whitney Alford has talked about Lamar, in fact, has been on record. She narrates three different songs on the rapper’s Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers (2022), including the album opener, “United In Grief.” Alford is also photographed holding her son on the cover. Kendrick Lamar does not speak about his fiancée, either, but he did admit to relationship woes in Mr. Morale‘s penultimate song, “Mother I Sober.” “I made it home, seven years of tour, chasin’ manhood,” he rapped. “But Whitney’s gone, by time you hear this song.” It appears, at least, publicly, that the two have figured things out.

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Urges Drake To Give Him Back Tupac’s Ring In “Euphoria” Lyric Remix

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Dr. Dre Teed Up ‘Not Like Us’ For Kendrick Lamar, And He Disrespected Drake By Performing It Five Times In A Row At ‘The Pop Out’

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It was already a consensus opinion that Kendrick Lamar obliterated Drake when they exchanged diss tracks this spring. But just in case there were any doubt, Lamar delivered an epic knockout punch during his set at his The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert at Los Angeles’ Kia Forum on Wednesday, June 19. First, Lamar opened his set by performing “Euphoria” live for the first time — adding a Tupac-related bar, to boot — but that paled in comparison to Lamar’s grand finale.

The Pulitzer Prize-winning Compton rapper welcomed Dr. Dre to the stage. They performed “Still D.R.E.” and “California Love,” and that seemed to be that before Lamar stopped him from walking off the stage. “You ain’t gonna say nothin’ else before we continue to party?” Lamar asked. Dre said, “Psst, I see dead people,” thus beginning a relentless medley of Lamar performing “Not Like Us” five times in a row.

Eventually, Lamar was joined on stage by the guest performers from the night — plus DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook — and they all metaphorically danced on Drake’s grave. Still, Lamar paused between the fourth and fifth run through “Not Like Us” to emphasize that this Juneteenth concert was meant “for all of us to be together on stage” and display “united at its finest.” Lamar shouted out the late Nipsey Hussle and Kobe Bryant and acknowledged, “We lost a lot of homies to this music sh*t, to this street sh*t.”

Lamar dropped “Not Like Us” in early May, and it became his fourth-career No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Kendrick Lamar And Ab-Soul Perform “6:16 In LA” During “Pop Up” Show

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Kendrick Lamar pulled out all the stops. The Compton rapper made his “Pop Out” concert an LA event for the ages. Part of the reason it was so memorable was because he showed love to all of the artists that he’s worked with over the years. DJ Mustard and Dr Dre showed up, but TDE fans were especially hyped to see Lamar link back up with Ab-Soul. It’s wasn’t clear which song Soulo would perform, but Kendrick Lamar decided to bring him to debut his Drake diss, “6:16 In LA.” The results were spectacular.

“6:16 In LA” is the most obscure and dense Drake diss that Lamar dropped. It’s still not on streaming platforms. This made it the perfect song to perform with TDE’s most esoteric rapper. Ab-Soul walked onstage and immediately hyped up the crowd. “I guess somebody lied,” he said. “Smells like somebody lied. I don’t see no muthaf*cking fire!” Soul and Lamar then linked up and the Al Green sample for “6:16 In LA” kicked in. The two rappers bobbed and put an arm over each other while they rapped the diss. K. Dot handled most of the bars (no surprise), but Ab-Soul served as the perfect hype man. He provided ad-libs and cheered his fellow Black Hippy member on.

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Performs “Euphoria” Live For The First Time: Watch

Ab-Soul Hyped Up Kendrick Lamar’s Performance

This is the first time Kendrick Lamar and Ab-Soul have performed together in years. There was some confusion as to their relationship in the months leading up to the “Pop Out” show. Ab-Soul dropped a guest verse on J Cole’s Might Delete Later album, which contained a Lamar diss. Ab-Soul also went through a turbulent period behind closed doors. He attempted to end his own life in 2022, which he detailed on his most recent album, Herbert. Despite the perceived distance between him and Lamar, Soul always spoke highly of the latter.

“We’re brothers first and, you know,” the rapper told XXL. “He’s still somebody that I can call on and vice versa. I support him in whatever. He’s incredible. He’s an incredible artist. I’m behind it 100 percent.” Ab-Soul obviously made good on his word by making an appearance at the “Pop Out” show. Long live Black Hippy.

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Urges Drake To Give Him Back Tupac’s Ring In “Euphoria” Lyric Remix

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Kendrick Lamar Kicked Drake While He Was Down By Starting His ‘The Pop Out’ Show With His ‘Euphoria’ Diss Track

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Kendrick Lamar’s The Pop Out — Ken & Friends Juneteenth concert marks his first public appearance since he and Drake exchanged several vicious diss tracks. DJ Hed and Mustard delivered stacked opening sets featuring guest performances from the likes of Westside Boogie, BlueBucksClan, Tommy The Clown, Blxst, Ty Dolla Sign, Dom Kennedy, Steve Lacy, Tyler The Creator, Roddy Ricch, and YG.

Lamar immediately reminded everyone that he is and forever will be the main attraction when he began his set with the live debut of “Euphoria,” one of the aforementioned Drake diss tracks.

Lamar additionally proved that he still disdains Drake by adding a new bar to “Euphoria,” according to various publications like Complex and XXL Magazine. The line is, “Give me Tupac’s ring back, and I might give you a little respect.”

To make matters worse for Drake, the Kia Forum crowd chanted “OV-Hoe” before Lamar took the stage for his set.

Lamar released “Euphoria” on April 30. The six-plus-minute diss track is a total evisceration. “Don’t tell no lies about me, and I won’t tell no truths ’bout you” is a self-explanatory bar, but Lamar’s attacks throughout the song are nuanced — the embodiment of “it’s levels to this,” as explained by Uproxx’s Wongo Okon.

Kendrick Lamar Urges Drake To Give Him Back Tupac’s Ring In “Euphoria” Lyric Remix

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Kendrick Lamar lit the rap world on fire on Juneteeth. He put on an electric performance during the “Ken and Friends” concert. He not only brought out a staggering roster of guests, but he used his platform to take a few more shots at Drake. The Compton rapper performed the diss record “Euphoria,” and rather than stick to the script, he decided to tweak lyrics and send a new message directly to the 6 God. The message? Don’t ever disrespect 2Pac.

Kendrick Lamar got rid of the “Euphoria” line “Matter of fact, I ain’t even bleed him yet, can I bleed him.” In its place was a line far more scathing, and one that verified what we all suspected. He doesn’t respect Drake. “Give me Tupac’s ring back and I might give you a little respect,” he rapped. The ring in question was bought by Drake back in 2023. The Toronto rapper purchased the artifact for $1 million, according to Billboard. He’s flaunted the ring on Instagram and worn it during several interviews. Drake made a similar purchase when he netted $2.6 million worth of Pharrell’s jewelry. He even flaunted the latter during the “Family Matters” video. Both of these purchases have not sat well with Kendrick Lamar.

Read More: LeBron James Spotted In The Crowd At Kendrick Lamar’s “Pop Out” Concert

Kendrick Lamar Confirmed He Doesn’t Respect Drake

The Compton rapper has made it clear that 2Pac is a musical idol. The notion that Drake owns one of Pac’s prized possessions has informed some of Lamar’s angriest bars. “You think the Bay gon’ let you disrespect ‘Pac, n**ga?,” he asked on “Not Like Us.” Dot’s reverence for 2Pac dates back to before he started rapping. He claimed to have visited the set of the “California Love” video as a kid. Years later, he used a rare interview from ‘Pac to close out his legendary album To Pimp a Butterfly. Dot also penned a tribute to the late rapper in 2015. “I was 8 yrs old when I first saw you,” he recalled. “I couldn’t describe how I felt at that moment. So many emotions. Full of excitement. Full of joy and eagerness. 20 yrs later I understand exactly what that feeling was. Inspired.”

Kendrick Lamar brought the ‘Pac experience full circle during the “Pop Out” show. He invited Dr. Dre onstage, and together they performed “California Love” together. Dre rapped his verse, of course, and then Dot took over for 2Pac. Talk about carrying the torch. Kendrick Lamar’s love for 2Pac has taken a bit of a backseat in 2024. He’s dedicated the last six months to hating on Drake, and he continued to do so at the “Pop Up” show. Lamar sold t-shirts with a reference to his now iconic “New Ho King” bar from “Euphoria.”

Read More: White Kendrick Lamar Fans Roasted Online For Missing The Point Of “Not Like Us”

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DJ Akademiks Guest Claims He Was Paid To Boost Kendrick Lamar Streams

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Just when fans thought they were out, DJ Akademiks pulls them back in. The internet personality had a stream on June 17, and he brought a guest on to discuss the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar battle. It wasn’t a debate over who won, or whether it would continue, though. It was an expose in which Ak’s guest alleged that he was paid by Kendrick Lamar’s manager, Anthony Saleh, to boost streaming numbers. He told DJ Akademiks that he inflated the amount of streams for Lamar’s number one single “Not Like Us.” He even showed the DJ how he did it.

The guest, who goes by the name “Epic,” immediately voiced fear for safety. “I’m crashing out,” he told Akademiks. “This is for my safety. This is how I feel… [Saleh] is who paid me.” He claimed to have never interacted with Saleh, but said the pgLang manager was who paid him to boost streams. “I wasn’t in direct contact with him, that’s just the name that was on the account I got paid by.” The guest then claimed that he would send proof to Akademiks. “They wanted me to do 30 million [streams] early,” he added. “I have payment proof, and I will DM that to you as long as you don’t expose it on stream.”

Read More: Kendrick Lamar Affiliate Claims “Meet The Grahams” Accusations Are True

“Epic” Told DJ Akademiks That He Fears For His Safety

There hasn’t been anything to validate these claims. Kendrick Lamar’s streaming numbers have been a topic of discussion in recent months, though. The Compton rapper’s Spotify numbers were up 49% the first week of May, while Drake’s were down 5%. Drake also questioned the validity of Lamar’s numbers on his diss record, “Family Matters.” He even referred to “Anthony” in his verse, though it’s unclear if he meant Anthony Saleh or Lamar’s ex-manager, Anthony “Top Dawg” Tiffith. “Anthony set up the plays, Kojo be chargin’ you double for nothin,” Drake spit. “They shook about what I’ma say, but textin’ your phone like, ‘We already won.’”

“Epic” also told DJ Akademiks that he boosted streams for the notable Twitch personality Adin Ross to make him appear more popular. He countered this by noting that other Twitch streamers like Kai Cenat and iShowSpeed didn’t have to rely on boosts to maintain their numbers. He then showed DJ Akademiks how he goes about “botting” social media accounts. Fans are split on the claims that “Epic” has made, but many have pointed out the irony of these streaming accusations being made against Kendrick Lamar on the rapper’s birthday.

Read More: LeBron James Raps To Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” In New Beats Commercial

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