Key Takeaways #
- DJ Akademiks claims West Coast rap has "zero motion" and is "completely dead" outside of Kendrick Lamar, calling most of the scene "a bunch of floppers."
- He argues Kendrick is the only West Coast artist with real clout, says the next hottest thing is an AI track, and criticizes YG for having more buzz over a murder case than his music while crediting The Game for once carrying L.A. rap.
- The rant contrasts West Coast stagnation with steady scenes in Atlanta, Florida, and New York, even as Kendrick's Juneteenth Pop Out show spotlighted a wide range of emerging and established West Coast artists.
DJ Akademiks has shared how he believes there's "nothing going on" in West Coast rap outside of Kendrick Lamar.
The media personality went on a rant about the regional hip-hop scene in a clip from his recent Kick livestream, which was posted to Instagram on Saturday (August 8). Ak claimed that the GNX rapper is the "only guy with clout" despite the local rap scene being vast.
"I love you guys on the West Coast, but y'all got zero motion," Ak continued, adding that the scene is filled with "a bunch of floppers." "Put it like this, the hottest thing after Kendrick on the West Coast right now is an AI song. Let's think about that one. 'Watch The Party Die?' He watched the Coast die... Dead."
He added that while the rap scenes in Atlanta, Florida and New York are relatively steady, the West Coast is "completely dead." Ak continued by explaining his belief that recent Verzuz co-headliner The Game uplifted Los Angeles rap during his prime, and argued that fellow L.A. native, YG, "can’t sell more than 20k."
"YG got more buzz for a murder than he got for music," Ak said. "Somebody got to say it. … At least when the Coast was dead, Game threw that bitch on his back."
Ak then chronicled Kendrick's time at Top Dawg Entertainment before co-founding record label and multimedia company pgLang and being heralded the West Coast "messiah," arguably leaving local artists on their own.
Despite Ak's argument, Kendrick headlined The Pop Out concert on Juneteenth 2024, where the setlist largely consisted of developing and established West Coast artists.