DJ Akademiks recently commented on the trend of rappers starting podcasts, theorizing that artists were shifting to the podcast industry because the music industry was no longer profitable. Akademiks' recent commentary was made in the wake of New York rappers Jim Jones, Maino, Fabulous, and Dave East's new podcast, titled Let's Rap About It, which premiered on September 22, 2025.During his Rumble livestream on September 24, DJ Akademiks explained why he believed rappers were shifting towards creating and hosting podcasts, alleging the lack of profitability in the music industry as the reason. Low @LowKeyUHTNLINKLooks like Jim Jones, Fab, Maino and Dave East are starting a podcast called “Let’s Rap About It.”The media personality further claimed that there was no money for casual rappers, adding that artists were realizing there were more avenues to capitalize on apart from making music."There is no more money in the rap for a casual rapper. And I'm not disrespecting these guys. I'm telling that rappers are realizing that they have platforms and they have these other things that is more monetizable than them making music," he said.DJ Akademiks continued:"If you told me that Fabulous, Jim Jones, Maino and Dave East, if you told me that they were together, I'd be like, 'Oh my god, they're making some type of four-way greatest New York rapper things, they're gonna sell some shit, go on tour.' Bruh, there's no more money in music.'In his livestream, DJ Akademiks said most rappers were in "complete famine mode" unless they were established artists like YB or Drake. He encouraged more artists to "quit rapping," likening most rappers' music to the quote, "if a tree falls in the woods, does anyone hear it?"DJ Akademiks claimed that only 0.1% of rappers were profiting from their rap careersIn his most recent Rumble livestream, DJ Akademiks claimed that a vast majority of rappers were not making money solely from their music career. He broke down the laborious process of a rapper working on a new album for six or more months, followed by promotions, only for the album to sell low numbers, saying, "Rap is done."He also blamed the lack of parity for dwindling profits, adding that labels needed to come up with new strategies to revive the rap industry."Rap is done because there is no more parity. It used to be 10% of rappers that's really getting it. Then it went down to 5%. Then it went down to 1%. Now I could confidently tell y'all, it's 0.1%. The rest of these guys, they have some fame, they have maybe a catalog. But the rap industry right now is going to take either labels reinventing it, or investing more into the brand of some of these artists," DJ Akademiks said.Furthermore, DJ Akademiks claimed that TikTok also caused significant damage to rappers by showing labels that there was no need to invest in artists when an algorithm could do "all the work that you would normally pay millions for." He continued that rappers were in a "weird place" at the moment and weren't releasing new music because labels were hesitant to invest in them. DJ Akademiks also welcomed rappers to try their hand at hosting podcasts, urging all artists who were "scared to drop" to stop recording music and instead pursue a career in podcasting."If your label isn't giving you an active budget to fund and promote you as a rapper every quarter...that's your side job now. Pick up a podcast mic, get a streaming backpack, or become a vlogger. I'm telling you the truth, okay. The money is over in these realms, it is not in the music industry," he said.Joe Budden speaking at UnitedMasters SelectCon 2024 (Image via Getty Images)Rapper-turned-podcaster is not a new phenomenon in the entertainment industry. According to XXL Magazine, artists such as Lil Yachty (A Safe Place Podcast), Joe Budden (The Joe Budden Podcast), Yung Miami (Caresha Please), and Cam'ron (Talk With Flee and It Is What It Is with Ma$e) are some of the more established examples of rappers who host podcasts.