Livingston Allen, better known as DJ Akademiks (or simply Akademiks, also by his stage name Lil AK), is a Jamaican-American podcaster, internet personality and live streamer. DJ Akademiks rose to fame for his YouTube channel which covered recent news in the music industry—particularly hip hop. He later became the co-host of Everyday Struggle, a daily show by Complex Networks. He also hosts his own podcast, Off the Record with DJ Akademiks, on Spotify.
Personal life
DJ Akademiks was born in Spanish Town, Jamaica, and has one biological brother.[8] His father was a school principal and is stated to have had many extramarital affairs due to his affluent status in Jamaican society.[8] DJ Akademiks did not appreciate his father's character of being away from his family, engaging in extramarital affairs and eventually starting another family, but he claims to have understood and forgiven him as he grew older.[8] DJ Akademiks mainly grew up under the care of his mother and his grandmother.[8] Akademiks's mother left him and his brother back in Jamaica and migrated to the United States, where she worked many jobs, lived in sub-par conditions, and eventually paid an American man $20,000 USD to marry her so she could legally become a US citizen as quickly as possible.[9] In 2001, DJ Akademiks and his brother were invited over to the US by their mother.[9]
Education
DJ Akademiks has a bachelor's degree in biomathematics from Rutgers University (New Brunswick Campus).[10] He was a disc jockey for the Rutgers University radio station WRSU-FM until 2013, when he was kicked out for his commentary and selection of music.[2] As evident from a Crime Alert flyer issued by the Rutgers University Campus Police in June 2011, Akademiks and another accomplice were wanted for stealing computers from fellow students on campus.[11]
Career
Early career
DJ Akademiks was a regular on online hip-hop forums.[12] His first YouTube channel titled DJ Akademiks created in October 2012[13] initially highlighted his university disc jockey sessions, interviews, and Hip-Hop/Rap opinions. Over time, he began posting the latest breaking news in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre. During this time, he operated a website titled Late Night Creep, which centred around Hip-Hop/Rap news but it is currently not operational.[14]
2014
In May 2014, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled Crime Fails, which highlighted the mishaps committed by criminals during or after their criminal deeds.[15]
In June 2014, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled The War in Chiraq, which mainly centred around the coverage of the gang conflicts in Chicago and the various drill artists encompassing these conflicts.[16] The channel played a substantial role in rendering the early Chicago drill music scene accessible to a wider audience. It had a quarter million subscribers and 94 million views in its first two years.[17]
2015
In February 2015, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled King Akademiks, where he solely posted highlight clips from his latest Twitch livestreams and began live streaming on in 2022.[18]
In March 2015, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled Akademiks TV, where he posted noteworthy footage obtained from various musicians in the Hip-Hop/Rap genre.[19] This footage did not feature any of DJ Akademiks' commentary.
In July 2015, DJ Akademiks uploaded a video to his first self-titled YouTube channel, stating that his channel had been suspended and that he was moving to a new channel, also titled DJ Akademiks where he continued posting Hip-Hop/Rap related news.[20]
In August 2015, DJ Akademiks created a YouTube channel titled DJ Akademiks TV2 – The Negrotiator, which served as a backup for his newly created and now main channel DJ Akademiks, posting the same type of content but with a more critical and opinion-based touch.[21] Since February 2023, this channel was primarily used to host and preserve full-length YouTube livestreams by DJ Akademiks and in September 2023, it was renamed to "The Akademy".[22]
2017–2020
Aside from regularly posting and growing his DJ Akademiks YouTube channel, Instagram account, and Twitter account, from April 2017, to December 2020,[23][24][25] DJ Akademiks co-hosted Everyday Struggle, a daily morning show for Complex, with Joe Budden (eventually replaced by Star, and finally Wayno) and Nadeska Alexis.[26][27] On the BET Awards pre-show on June 25, 2017, DJ Akademiks and his co-hosts interviewed Atlanta rap group Migos, where tensions rose between him, his co-host Joe Budden and late Migos member Takeoff, after he questioned his absence on Migos' 2016 single "Bad and Boujee".[28] This interaction spawned the viral meme "Does it look like I was left off Bad and Boujee" which would bring Akademiks to a new level in his career.[29]
In April 2018, DJ Akademiks launched his rapper alter-ego Lil AK, by posting a music video for his song "Blues Clues", which included a cameo from rapper 6ix9ine.[30] The music video amassed 3.2 million views. DJ Akademiks created a separate YouTube channel for his rapper alter-ego, titled Lil AK.[31] He continued to release a string of songs and music videos up until September 2020.[32]
2021–present
In August 2021, DJ Akademiks launched his podcast, Off the Record with DJ Akademiks, in partnership with Spotify. It releases three episodes per week that center around roundtable discussions, and interviews with various Hip-Hop/Rap musicians and media personalities.[33]
In April 2023, DJ Akademiks announced he would begin livestreaming on the video platform Rumble.[34] DJ Akademiks said his intention to begin streaming exclusively on Rumble was due to the monetary offer he was provided and also for their lax moderation policies surrounding speech.[35]
Controversies
In July 2020, DJ Akademiks was suspended from Complex for insulting model Chrissy Teigen while livestreaming on Twitch.[36] Akademiks later apologized, stating "I think I definitely went over the line when I was disrespecting women."[37] In November 2020, Akademiks announced he would be leaving Complex permanently.[38]
In February 2022, DJ Akademiks confronted rapper Megan Thee Stallion on Twitter, claiming that her allegation that she had been shot by rapper Tory Lanez was not supported by DNA evidence.[39] In May 2022, DJ Akademiks used an outdated social media post of an LAPD police report from before bullet fragments were discovered in Megan Thee Stallion's feet during surgery, alongside claims that the singer had not been shot at all.[40] In December 2022, Lanez was convicted of the shooting and in August 2023, Lanez was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the crime.[41][42]
In September 2022, podcast host and former rapper Joe Budden criticized DJ Akademiks for sharing a video clip of rapper PnB Rock, speaking about being a potential robbery target, several days after PnB Rock had been shot to death in a robbery attempt.[43] That same month, DJ Akademiks was criticized by hip-hop pioneers LL Cool J,[3]MC Lyte,[44]Russell Simmons,[45] and Spice 1[46] for calling older rappers "dusty".
