DJ Akademiks Says West Coast Rap Has 'Zero Motion' Despite Kendrick Lamar Success

DJ Akademiks claimed on his Kick livestream that West Coast rap has "zero motion" and is "completely dead" outside of Kendrick Lamar, calling the scene "a bunch of floppers" and noting that the hottest thing after Kendrick is an AI song. He argued that The Game once carried L.A. rap, while YG "can't sell more than 20k" and has more buzz from a murder case than his music. Akademiks contrasted the West Coast with steady scenes in Atlanta, Florida, and New York, despite Kendrick's Juneteenth 2024 Pop Out show featuring many West Coast artists.

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 https://www.complex.com/tag/dj-akademiks has shared how he believes there's "nothing going on" in West Coast rap outside of Kendrick Lamar https://www.complex.com/tag/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 https://www.complex.com/music/a/dimassanfiorenzo/kendrick-lamar-gnx-album-review 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 https://www.complex.com/tag/verzuz co-headliner The Game https://www.complex.com/tag/the-game uplifted Los Angeles rap during his prime, and argued that fellow L.A. native, YG https://www.complex.com/tag/yg , "can’t sell more than 20k." "YG got more buzz for a murder https://www.complex.com/music/a/backwoodsaltar/yg-drakeo-ruler-murder-we-know-truth-listen 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 https://www.complex.com/tag/top-dawg-entertainment before co-founding record label and multimedia company pgLang https://www.complex.com/tag/pglang and being heralded the West Coast "messiah," arguably leaving local artists on their own. Despite Ak's argument, Kendrick headlined The Pop Out https://www.complex.com/music/a/dimassanfiorenzo/kendrick-lamar-pop-out-show-takeaways concert on Juneteenth 2024, where the setlist largely consisted of developing and established West Coast artists.