Anyone who watches Everyday Struggle has probably realized that Akademiks has been stepping up the interview game. Giving credit where credit is due, he's become one of the more astute media pundits in circulation, loathe though some may be to admit it. Can the same be said about his rap career, in which he moonlights as the dread-sporting mumble rapper Lil Ak? On the surface, Lil Ak embodies the epitome of what a parent sees after hearing their child wants to become a rapper.
An amalgamation of mumble-rap tropes likely picked up from his years of media coverage, it's hard not to listen to his music with satirical goggles on. Does Ak truly take his artistry seriously? It's hard to say, but maybe it's not important. He has built a loyal following who draw sustenance from the creation of memes, and Lil Ak is nothing if not a meme factory. Is his music a statement on the simplicity of a popular subgenre, or a bonafide dream realized under the guise of parody? Or is it a classic case of one man content to watch the world burn? To use his own preferred parlance, fire emoji or shit emoji?