"Drake was sending me voice notes talking crazy, like he's a mob boss" – Akademiks claims rapper sent threats to Kendrick's team during their beef
During one of his recent Kick livestreams, DJ Akademiks claimed that Anthony Saleh, Kendrick Lamar’s manager, reportedly told him that he seemingly received threats from Drake during the duo’s infamous 2024 rap battle.
“You should have heard this n***a Drake, what he was saying to us… Dude whipped his a**… Drake was sending me voice notes talking crazy, like he’s a mob boss,” Akademiks seemingly quoted Saleh.
The online personality continued that Drizzy allegedly told Anthony, who is a music executive, producer, and investor, that the Canadian artist warned them against continuing the rivalry.
“He says Drake is saying to him sh*ts like this. ‘Yo, I’m gonna done you.’ Like some talking crazy, like, ‘Yo, you n****s is washed. Like, you guys think you can finish ME?!?’” Drake allegedly told K-Dot’s associate.
According to Akademiks, Kendrick Lamar’s associate also told him that “Pusha T sh*t is real.” However, the streamer claimed that it didn’t happen recently. He was probably referring to Pusha T's recent revelation during a GQ interview in June 2025 that his record label, Def Jam, wanted to prevent him from featuring K-Dot on his song, due to the infamous feud.
AK further stated that Drake previously told him he had never spoken to anybody in Dot’s crew.
More about DJ Akademiks’ latest claims about Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud
During the recent livestream, DJ Akademiks also mentioned that Kendrick Lamar’s business partner and pgLang co-founder, Dave Free, accused him of taking payola from Drake when they met during the 2024 Grand National Tour.
“Dave Free had a moment — he asked me — he said, ‘Ak, what are you getting from this?’ He says, ‘Is he paying you?’ And that was the most insulting thing — and I’ve had conversations with these men for a while — but the very idea that I was like a purchasable commodity was so disgusting,” Akademiks stated.
Ak continued by saying how he “reminded” Free that he’d been streaming hip-hop-based content for over a decade.
“I said, ‘You knew about me before this sh*t… Did you think I was a cheap h*e that just could be bought?’” the online personality recalled telling Dave.
DJ Akademiks also noted that while his platforms and streams profited from the Drake versus Kendrick Lamar feud, he didn’t engage in “pay-for-play” tactics, adding, he never gets paid by anybody he defends or criticizes online.
However, he admitted that he might have favored Drake during the beef as the Toronto rapper was his “favorite” artist. Akademiks further claimed Kendrick Lamar’s team did not communicate with him at the time.
“Throughout the battle, we probably definitely came off very biased. Not only because I like Drake and he’s my favorite rapper… but you guys lost communication with us at that time, because if you chose not to involve yourself in clarifying the narrative, the narrative gets written without you. It always happens like that. I’m in the media, I know how it goes,” DJ added.
Notably, in April 2024, amid his beef with the Compton rapper, Drizzy took several shots at Anthony Saleh online. The One Dance hitmaker also threw shade at Dave Free in his diss tracks against Lamar.
While issues between Drake and Kendrick could be traced back to 2013, the pair officially kicked off their rap battle in March 2024 and exchanged back-to-back diss tracks. The Canadian artist dropped Push Ups, Taylor Made Freestyle, Family Matters, and The Heart Pt. 6. Meanwhile, Kendrick Lamar responded with Euphoria, 6:16 in LA, Meet the Grahams, and Not Like Us.
Since then, the duo has called each other out during concerts, tours, and collabs with other artists. Drizzy even filed a lawsuit against his record label, Universal Music Group, to which Lamar is also signed. He accused the label of defamation and harassment, and of allegedly using payola to promote K-Dot’s Not Like Us.
