DJ Akademiks reveals why rappers are struggling in the charts
DJ Akademiks has been slightly ostracised from hip-hop after a video emerged showing him speaking to an alleged 15-year-old about sex in January. However, he still has a following, and during a recent Twitch stream, the podcaster and streamer revealed the reason why some MCs are struggling to chart on the Billboard 200.
During his stream, Akademiks insisted that Drake’s battle with Kendrick Lamar is one reason many lyricists are failing from a sales and charting perspective. While scrolling through the projections for the top 50 albums on the Billboard Hot 200, DJ Akademiks highlighted how, aside from household names like Tyler, The Creator, and Lil Durk, the only rap albums that appear are from Drake and Kendrick.
The streamer insisted that only projects linked to feuds seem to have a place on the top 50 albums. Aside from GNX, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, MUSIC, and More Chaos, the whole chart consists of older Drake and Kendrick Lamar projects.
Drake’s Take Care, Kendrick Lamar’s Good Kid m.A.A.d City and DAMN appear in the second half of the top 50. As such, Akademiks came to the conclusion that, as an emcee, you need to have a worldwide fan base and an extremely loyal following to have any chance of sustained success.
The controversial journalist asserted that record labels no longer care about breaking artists and suggested that major labels such as Universal Music Group, Interscope, and Republic are happy to let old projects make them money.
Asserting this, Ak told his followers, “People think that the labels want to break new artists. No. They wanna break new money. They don’t give two f*cks if new artists drop. Of course, they want the business to continue, but if they don’t have to put any promo or marketing money into GNX or Take Care. Then they can live off of that.”