DJ Akademiks explains how he would respond to Drake if he questioned him about attending Kendrick Lamar's concert in Detroit 

Shortly after attending Kendrick Lamar's Grand National Tour concert in Detroit on June 10, 2025, DJ Akademiks discussed his experience, an alleged conversation with Dave Free, and more on his livestream.

In a snippet of Akademiks' livestream posted by a Joe Budden fan page on X on June 12, 2025, the YouTuber commented on how he would respond if Drake asked him about his presence at Lamar's concert. He said:

"If Drake tell me 'Yo bro I thought you was f*cking with me, why you at the Dot concert?' You know what Imma say to him? The same thing I said to Dave Free and Anthony Saleh. Yo Drake, you know them ni**as having concerts in Toronto. Go slide."

For the unversed, Drake and Kendrick Lamar engaged in a feud last year, with each artist dissing the other through rap songs. Akademiks suggested that Drizzy meet up with Lamar because it's "been a year" since their rap feud. The YouTuber seemingly put forth his suggestion, asking Drake to slide into Lamar's concert in Toronto, adding, "the emotions gotta be done, ni**as talk s*t about me every day."

Akademiks has curated an image portraying himself as a Drake loyalist. However, he gave what appears to be an unbiased review of Kendrick Lamar's Detroit concert.

Dubbing the crowd as "weird" in a clip shared by Akademiks TV, the YouTuber said that the audience at Lamar's concert was "mad selective" while singing along, adding:

"There's other times I'm looking at them and they're dead silent. They're recording though, they're recording but they're not singing along. And then there's moments that they're super hyped."

DJ Akademiks also verified the legitimacy of the audience at Lamar's concert, contradicting his previous comment about Kendrick and SZA struggling to sell tickets for their Grand National Tour.

"There's a lot I could really get into, but first and foremost I say this: That motherf*cker dot is filling up this venue, like this venue is filled. Real people, clearly not no bots," Akademiks mentioned.

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DJ Akademiks comments on taking offense to Dave Free's question concerning Drake

In addition to describing his experience at Kendrick Lamar's concert in detail, DJ Akademiks also shared an incident with his livestream concerning Lamar's manager and pgLang co-founder, Dave Free.

Summarizing his alleged conversation with Dave Free, DJ Akademiks said that Lamar's manager asked him:

“What are you getting from this? Is Drake paying you?”

DJ Akademiks shared that Dave Free's reported question was "the most insulting thing."

"And I've had conversations with these men for a while. But the very idea that I was like a purchasable commodity was so disgusting. I reminded him, I said, 'You know I've been doing this for over ten years. I've been doing this for over 15 years. How did you think I became me?'"

Akademiks added:

"I said 'You knew about me before this sh*t ... Did you think I was a cheap h*e that just could be bought?' ... The people I've defended the most I've never gotten paid from."

The YouTuber also stated that he didn't engage in "pay for play" and that if he were paid to defend someone or if his opinions could be influenced by payment, he wouldn't be relevant.

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In the livestream discussing Dave Free's alleged comment on being paid by Drake, Akademils admitted to being biased during the rap feud involving Drizzy and Kendrick Lamar.

However, the YouTuber said that the reason for his biased opinions stemmed from Lamar's team cutting off communications with him at the time.