DJ Akademiks’s comments about some of the pioneers of Hip Hop rubbed many fans of the culture the wrong way. MC Lyte is the latest rap legend to address the matter.
“Have you seen any of these old rappers who be like they’re the foundation of Hip Hop really living good?” asked Akademiks. “Them n##### be looking really dusty. I kid you not. Don’t none of y’all try and come for me ’cause I don’t f### with y’all n#####.”
Last week, LL Cool J’s video addressing Akademiks’s comment went viral. The Hip Hop icon stressed that early rap artists did not have the same financial resources as modern-day rap stars.
This week, MC Lyte made an appearance on SiriusXM Urban View’s The Clay Cane Show. The first female rapper to receive a Grammy nomination shared her viewpoint on what DJ Akademiks had to say.
“I think it does a disservice to us as a community to think that way, but I also understand the generation that’s coming up now, everything is the proof, and they want to see the proof, as opposed to feel the proof, or hear the proof. They want to see it,” said Lyte.
The “Poor Georgie” hitmaker continued, “And so I imagine that’s what this particular person was talking about, but needless to say, there are so many other people out there that are willing to share the truth and the history and also understand the value of everyone who has contributed to Hip Hop, everyone that’s contributed something good.”
For his part, DJ Akademiks stopped by The Breakfast Club to clarify the points he was trying to make on his Twitch live stream. According to the outspoken blogger, people online took his “dusty” remarks out of context. Ak insisted he made a larger point about the generational divide in Hip Hop.