DJ Akademiks Guest Claims He Was Paid To Boost Kendrick Lamar Streams

Just when fans thought they were out, DJ Akademiks pulls them back in. The internet personality had a stream on June 17, and he brought a guest on to discuss the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar battle. It wasn't a debate over who won, or whether it would continue, though. It was an expose in which Ak's guest alleged that he was paid by Kendrick Lamar's manager, Anthony Saleh, to boost streaming numbers. He told DJ Akademiks that he inflated the amount of streams for Lamar's number one single "Not Like Us." He even showed the DJ how he did it.

The guest, who goes by the name "Epic," immediately voiced fear for safety. "I'm crashing out," he told Akademiks. "This is for my safety. This is how I feel... [Saleh] is who paid me." He claimed to have never interacted with Saleh, but said the pgLang manager was who paid him to boost streams. "I wasn't in direct contact with him, that's just the name that was on the account I got paid by." The guest then claimed that he would send proof to Akademiks. "They wanted me to do 30 million [streams] early," he added. "I have payment proof, and I will DM that to you as long as you don't expose it on stream."

There hasn't been anything to validate these claims. Kendrick Lamar's streaming numbers have been a topic of discussion in recent months, though. The Compton rapper's Spotify numbers were up 49% the first week of May, while Drake's were down 5%. Drake also questioned the validity of Lamar's numbers on his diss record, "Family Matters." He even referred to "Anthony" in his verse, though it's unclear if he meant Anthony Saleh or Lamar's ex-manager, Anthony "Top Dawg" Tiffith. "Anthony set up the plays, Kojo be chargin' you double for nothin," Drake spit. "They shook about what I'ma say, but textin' your phone like, 'We already won.'"

"Epic" also told DJ Akademiks that he boosted streams for the notable Twitch personality Adin Ross to make him appear more popular. He countered this by noting that other Twitch streamers like Kai Cenat and iShowSpeed didn't have to rely on boosts to maintain their numbers. He then showed DJ Akademiks how he goes about "botting" social media accounts. Fans are split on the claims that "Epic" has made, but many have pointed out the irony of these streaming accusations being made against Kendrick Lamar on the rapper's birthday.

About The Author

Danilo is a writer based out of San Diego. He graduated from the Art Institute of Tucson with a B.A. in digital media, and has since forged a career as a pop culture journalist. He covered hip-hop for Heavy.com, Rhyme Junkies and PopMatters prior to joining HotNewHipHop.com. Danilo's top five is constantly changing, but Biggie and Slug from Atmosphere remain permanent fixtures. His favorite rap album of all time is "Late Registration" by Kanye West, and that stays the same.

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