Ed Lover has never been one to hold his tongue, and the legendary host has fired off some words in the direction of DJ Akademiks following his comments about older rappers being “dusty.”
In an interview with VladTV shared on Friday (November 25), Ed broke down how there’d be no Ak if it weren’t for the greats who came before him.
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“We all stand on the shoulders of giants,” Ed Lover said. “We all stand on the shoulders of people that have done it before us. You are not the first Black man to sit behind a mic and interview people, nor will you be the last Black man. And after you, there’s gonna be somebody else.”
He went on to explain how the pioneers of any genre are never the ones who make the most money off of it, reminding Ak that there were no endorsements, festivals or anything of the sort for Hip Hop artists when they first started. Ed then added that he believes the former Everyday Struggle host should issue an apology.
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“You owe all of these guys an apology. Don’t get so high up on your horse, bro. Somebody did it before you! … You are looking at the reason your ass is on television. Me, Big Tigger, everybody that came before you is the reason why you have an opportunity.
“The reason why I had the opportunity is dudes like Don Cornelius. The reason why I had the opportunity to do radio is because of dudes like Frankie Crocker, like Bugsy [Buggs]. That’s the reason why I had the opp to do what I do and now you doing what you doing because of cats like me.”
The “dusty” comments stemmed from one of Akademiks’ Twitch live streams in September.
“Them old rappers, man. Have you seen any of these old rappers who be like, yo, they’re the foundation of Hip Hop really living good?” Ak said. “Them n-ggas be looking really dusty, I kid you not. And none of y’all try to come for me ’cause I don’t fuck with y’all n-ggas either, so I’m just telling y’all the truth.”
He added: “Every time there be like an old, old n-gga talking about Hip Hop, you be like, ‘Yo, bro. You sure you invented this? ‘Cause everybody else is looking better than you.’ Facts!”
LL Cool J quickly responded in a rare appearance on Instagram Live where he lectured the controversial media personality and went on to illustrate why he believes Akademiks is “misinformed” – making similar points to the ones Ed Lover did.
Scorpio of groundbreaking Hip Hop group Grandmaster Flash and The Furious Five also spoke out against Ak’s comments, as well as fellow pioneer MC Sha-Rock, The Sugarhill Gang’s Hen Dogg, Goodie Mob rapper Khujo, MC Lyte and more.
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The disparaging comments even prompted an open letter from the Universal Zulu Nation, which you can read here.
