DJ Akademiks

Livingston Allen (born May 17, 1991), more commonly known as DJ Akademiks or simply Akademiks, is a Jamaican-American podcaster, media personality and YouTuber. DJ Akademiks rose to fame for his YouTube channel which covers the latest news in the hip hop music genre, and also for being a co-host of ''Everyday Struggle'', a daily show by Complex Networks. He also hosts ''Off the Record with DJ Akademiks'' on Spotify.

Early life

DJ Akademiks was born on May 17, 1991 in Spanish Town, Jamaica and has one brother as his sibling. His father was a school principal and is stated to have had many extra-marital affairs due to his affluent status in Jamaican society. DJ Akademiks did not appreciate his father's character of being away from his family, engaging in extra-marital affairs, and eventually starting another family but he claims to have understood and forgiven him as he grew older. As a result, DJ Akademiks mainly grew up under the care of his mother and his grandmother.

Akademiks' mother left him and his brother back in Jamaica and migrated to the United States of America where she would work many jobs, live in sub-par conditions, and eventually pay an American man $20,000 USD to marry her so she could legally become a citizen of the country as quickly as possible. DJ Akademiks and his brother were then invited over to the country in 2001 by their mother.

Education

DJ Akademiks has a bachelor's degree in biomathematics from Rutgers University (New Brunswick Campus). He was also a disc jockey for the Rutgers University radio station WRSU-FM until 2013 when he was kicked out for his commentary and selection of music. As evident from a Crime Alert flyer issued by the Rutgers University Campus Police on June 3, 2011, DJ Akademiks and another accomplice were wanted for stealing computers from fellow students on campus.

Career

Early career

DJ Akademiks was a regular on online hip-hop forums. His first YouTube channel titled ''DJ Akademiks'' created on October 13, 2012 would initially highlight his university disc jockey sessions, interviews, and Hip-Hop/Rap opinions, but over time, he would begin posting the latest breaking news in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre. During this time, he also operated a website titled ''Late Night Creep'' which centred around Hip-Hop/Rap news but it is currently not operational.

2014

On May 3, 2014, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled ''Crime Fails'' which would highlight the mishaps committed by criminals during or after their criminal deeds.

On June 24, 2014, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled ''The War In Chiraq'' which would mainly centre around the coverage of the gang conflicts in Chicago and the various drill artists encompassing these conflicts.

2015

On February 8, 2015, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled ''King Akademiks'' where he would solely post highlight clips from his latest Twitch livestreams and also begin live streaming on in 2022.

On March 13, 2015, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled ''Akademiks TV'' where he would post noteworthy footage obtained from various musicians in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre. This footage would not feature any of DJ Akademiks' commentary.

On July 10, 2015, DJ Akademiks would upload a video to his first self-titled YouTube channel stating that his channel has been suspended and that he is moving to a new channel also titled ''DJ Akademiks'' where he would continue posting Hip-Hop/Rap related news.

On August 18, 2015, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled ''DJ Akademiks TV2 - The Negrotiator'' which would serve as a backup for his newly created and now main channel ''DJ Akademiks'', posting the same type of content but with a more critical and opinion-based touch.

2017–2020

Aside from regularly posting and growing his ''DJ Akademiks'' YouTube channel, Instagram account, and Twitter account, from April 17, 2017 to December 17, 2020, DJ Akademiks co-hosted ''Everyday Struggle'', a daily morning show for Complex, with Joe Budden (eventually replaced b
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On April 20, 2018, DJ Akademiks launched his rapper alter-ego ''Lil Ak'' by posting a music video for his song "Blues Clues" which would also include a cameo from rapper 6ix9ine. The music video would amass 3.1 million views and DJ Akademiks would then go onto create a separate YouTube channel for his rapper alter-ego which would be titled ''Lil AK.'' He would then continue to release a string of songs and music videos up until September 2020.

2021–present

In August 2021, DJ Akademiks launched his podcast ''Off the Record with DJ Akademiks'' in partnership with Spotify which sees the release of three episodes per week that centre around roundtable discussions, and interviews with various Hip-Hop/Rap musicians and media personalities.

Controversies

On the BET Awards pre-show on June 25, 2017, DJ Akademiks and his co-hosts interviewed Atlanta rap group Migos, where tensions rose between him, his co-host Joe Budden and late Migos member Takeoff after he questioned his absence on Migos' 2016 hit single "Bad and Boujee".

In September 2018, DJ Akademiks was mentioned in the Eminem song 'Fall' where he raps about Joe Budden and DJ Akademiks negatively reviewing Eminem's Revival album, "Somebody tell Budden before I snap, he better fasten it. Or have his body bag get zipped. The closest thing he’s had to hits is smackin' bitches. And don't make me have to give it back to Akademiks. Say this shit is trash again, I’ll have you twisted." DJ Akademiks responded with, "I thought it was only Joe getting dissed, I got name dropped and dissed. And I’m like, ‘the fuck did I do?"

In July 2020, DJ Akademiks was suspended from Complex for crudely insulting model Chrissy Teigen while live streaming.

In February 2022, DJ Akademiks confronted rapper Megan Thee Stallion on Twitter, claiming her allegation that she'd been shot by rapper Tory Lanez was not supported by DNA evidence. In May 2022, DJ Akademiks used an outdated social media post of an LAPD police report from before bullet fragments were discovered in Megan Thee Stallion's feet during surgery alongside false claims that the singer had not been shot at all. In December, Lanez was convicted.

In June 2022, DJ Akademiks found himself being labelled a pedophile after a minor segment from a video of his from 2014 resurfaced where he states, "And to keep it real, if you think about it in the bigger scheme of things, there's not much difference between a 20 or a 17 or a 21 and a 17, just kinda means one's a minor and one's not a minor. But listen, I will say I adopted this rule which I think is fine, I said listen, 'as long as a chick got a college ID she's getting fucked.' I don't care if she 17, I don't care if she 17 and a half, I don't care if she just turned 17, and I'm 21, she gon' get this dick." DJ Akademiks later took to his Twitch account and defended himself by saying that the short video was obtained from a video that was eight years old and that it was missing the context of him addressing the controversial relationship of Tyga and Kylie Jenner pertaining to their age differences. He also stated that he had never slept with an underage person and was only referring specifically to the college environment, where most freshmen are 18 or about to turn 18, "I was talking about being in an institution, college or high school, where the ages are a little bit out of what is actually acceptable. Four months of college years some people are 17, and when people go to college they do not check IDs. No one says 'Hey, how old are you?' I've been to college. They're usually under the assumption that the people they are dating are of age."

In September 2022, podcast host and former rapper Joe Budden criticized DJ Akademiks for sharing a video clip of rapper PnB Rock speaking of being a potential robbery target several days after PnB Rock had been shot to death in a robbery attempt. That same month, DJ Akademiks was criticized by hip-hop pioneers LL Cool J, MC Lyte, Russell Simmons, and Spice 1 for calling older rappers "dusty". In September 2022, Chicago rapper Chief Keef disputed a claim that DJ Akademiks had created Keef's career and actress Toya Johnson disputed DJ Akademiks over his remarks on her daughter Reginae Carter. Atlanta rapper T.I. also criticized DJ Akademiks' remarks about Carter.

In October 2022, a video of DJ Akademiks shouting at his girlfriend and separating her from a fight surfaced online. Rapper Freddie Gibbs responded to the situation by taunting him on Twitter. Also in October 2022, Atlanta rapper Lil Baby dissed him numerous times on his album ''It's Only Me'' to which he expressed his disdain for Lil Baby and his music, and jokingly expressed his willingness to testify against the rapper should he ever get criminally charged.

References

1991 births
American bloggers
American DJs
American male bloggers
American male YouTubers
American podcasters
American YouTubers
Instagram accounts
Jamaican American
Jamaican emigrants to the United States
Living people
Music YouTubers
News YouTubers
People from New Jersey
Rutgers University alumni
Social media influencers
Twitch (service) streamers

{{Portal bar, Biography, Jamaica, Media, New Jersey, United States
YouTube controversies