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A week after The Joe Budden Podcast co-host Marc Lamont Hill declared that his beef with DJ Akademiks was over, the podcaster and internet personality reignited their feud during a recent live stream on May 7, 2025.
Comparing himself to Marc Lamont Hill, Akademiks said that he worked harder to get where he was and that Marc was only relevant during Drake and Kendrick Lamar's beef. Akademiks added:
"When he's on there in the top 5, top 10, oh, I'll sit with him. But if ain't top 5 or top 10, I'm not giving no handouts. Here's the thing, I never got no handouts, and when it was time for n****s to try and cancel me, every n***a tried to cancel me."
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In his live stream, DJ Akademiks addressed people asking him to sit with Marc Lamont Hill. Defending the idea of the same, Akademiks turned the narrative to making it on his own in the industry, hinting at Marc gaining popularity due to Joe Budden.
The podcaster and internet personality appeared furious as he put forth his point and referred to Marc's prior stint at CNN, stating:
"He's in my world now. I'm not on CNN. If I was on CNN, I'd be like, 'Can you get me with Marc Lamont Hill? I want to debate him.' No. He's in my world. He's not on a hip-hop ranking list. I am. I'm number one. So, I don't wanna go debate y'all little favorite who's like number 600. Sorry, I don't do that."
Akademiks' issue with Marc Lamont Hill also seemed to be with his current profession, given that the two are in the podcast space. Targeting Marc, the podcaster said that The Joe Budden Podcast co-host made the switch from discussing politics to talking about Drake.
What is the beef between DJ Akademiks and Marc Lamont Hill? Details explored
While publications have not covered the feud between DJ Akademiks and Marc Lamont Hill extensively, several YouTubers have made videos reflecting on the specifics of the beef between the two podcasters.
On April 21, 2025, YouTuber Chigs Smooth covered the animosity between Akademiks and Marc, stating that it began after the latter was one of the people commenting on a 2022 leaked audio clip of Akademiks. In the audio clip, the podcaster said that there was not much difference between a 17-year-old and a 20-year-old, resulting in a lot of negative comments and backlash coming his way.
One of the negative comments was from Marc Lamont Hill, who tweeted at the time:
"Akademiks is trash. For a millions reasons. Always has been. I don't understand how/why anybody is cool with him or supports what he does."
The same night of Marc's tweet, DJ Akademiks threatened Marc via live stream by saying that he would spit in the former CNN commentator's face, among other statements. During the live stream, Akademiks constantly kept asking for Marc's address as he continued to threaten him.
While much did not follow after Akademiks' threat, the podcaster appeared on Joe Budden's podcast in December 2022. During the podcast, Akademiks commented on not making an appearance on the same due to Marc Lamont Hill being signed by Budden. He also claimed that Marc had "hater energy".
Additionally, DJ Akademiks recalled that he and DJ Vlad had planned to hire Marc Lamont Hill after his stint at CNN ended. However, they were planning to do so only to send Marc on dummy interviews.
For the unversed, Marc Lamont Hill was a political commentator at CNN and was fired from the network in 2018 after he voiced support for Palestine in front of the United Nations.
In the latest Joe Budden's podcast episode squashing his feud with DJ Akademiks, Marc said that he did not think of his disagreement with the podcaster as a beef.
