LL Cool J Defends Rap Pioneers After DJ Akademiks Claims Old-School Rappers Are ‘Dusty’ & Broke: This Idea That You Have To Have Money Or Else You Don’t Have Any Value Is A Bad Idea

LL Cool J & DJ Akademiks

LL Cool J Defends Rap Pioneers After DJ Akademiks Claims Old-School Rappers Are ‘Dusty’ & Broke: This Idea That You Have To Have Money Or Else You Don’t Have Any Value Is A Bad Idea

LL Cool J is letting DJ Akademiks know not to come for the legends of rap and Hip Hop. 

Recently, DJ Akademiks, born Livingston Allen, had a lot to get off his chest when it comes to where old-school rappers stand today. On his podcast, DJ Akademiks shared:

“Them old rappers man, them n*gg*s, bro, have you seen any of these old rappers who be like ‘yo they’re the foundation of Hip-Hop’ really living good? Them n*gg*s be looking really dusty, I kid you not. And none of y’all try to come for me ‘cause ion f*ck with y’all n*gg*s either so ima just tell y’all the truth. Y’all be looking — everytime it be like a old old n*gg* talking about Hip-Hop you be like ‘yo bro you sure you invented this? ‘Cause everybody else living better than you.’”

DJ Akademiks

In a lengthy video, LL Cool J responded to the 31-year-old. The “Baby” rapper shared:

“It came to my attention that a DJ, and I’m not gon say any names because I don’t think it’s necessary. A DJ basically said that you know, a lot of the pioneers in Hip-Hop are you know, they’re ‘dusty’ or ‘how could they be the person that, you know, invented Hip-Hop if they don’t have a lot of money, or if they don’t look — represent like they have a lot of dough, right? Lemme explain something to you and say this for you guys.”

LL, born James Todd Smith, continued:

“Don’t confuse someone’s ability to develop a business model, don’t conflate, in other words, don’t think just because somebody knows how to get money or fails to get money that they didn’t make a contribution to the culture.”

The rap pioneer continued with his response and argued that no one discusses net worth when it comes to artists in other genres such as; pop, rock, and country music. He then shared:

“This idea that you have to have money or else you don’t have any value, is a bad idea and it’s a kind of like a misinformed way of looking at the world and the culture. There are artists out here, first of all, lemme say this — let’s talk about young artists, right? Which who I love. I love the young artists, let’s be clear. I’m very much a guy who embraces the young artists. I believe in every generation. I believe in you. I care about you. Lemme say this to you though.”

The 54-year-old wasn’t done there. He continued and noted how newer-aged artists have more help nowadays when it comes to their career and money.

“Today, you can come up with your five year plan, your 10 year plan, your 20 year plan. You can go find a manager, you can go find an accountant, you can find somebody that means something to you, to help you, you can find a team to help your career go to the next level. When Hip-Hop first started, there were no managers, there were no accountants that believed in it. Record companies didn’t even believe in it. Nobody believed in it. How can you make a five year plan or a 10 year plan on something that doesn’t even exist yet? That people have never even heard of?”

He added:

“Just because they didn’t get rich, just because they weren’t able to pile up millions or billions of dollars, does not mean that they didn’t make a contribution to this culture.”

LL finished with:

“It’s always good to get money, it’s always important. It’s important to get money, I agree, I’m all about getting paper, I’ve been talking about it my whole career, but don’t ever confuse being rich with making a contribution to our culture. Don’t ever play yourself like that again.”

LL Cool J goes off over a comment Akademiks made about the HipHop pioneers being “dusty” and broke pic.twitter.com/0CcQ3eB4qg

— Glock Topickz (@Glock_Topickz) September 22, 2022

What are your thoughts on LL Cool J’s response to DJ Akademiks calling rap pioneers ‘dusty’ and broke? Share it with us in the comment section below. 

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