Joe Budden says DJ Akademiks wasn't supposed to be his co-host on Everyday Struggle, and the role was originally going to go to Elliott Wilson. Everyday Struggle aired on Complex's YouTube channel from 2017 through 2020 and featured Budden and Akademiks debating various pressing topics in the music industry.
“Everyday Struggle was supposed to be me and Elliott Wilson,” Budden recently revealed on Smoke DZA and Show Broadway’s podcast, Personal Party. “And we would look for a moderator. That’s what was supposed to happen.”
In early 2017, Wilson ended up landing a job at TIDAL as their Editorial Director of Culture & Content. The position led to him backing out of his commitment to Complex.
After butting heads with Akademiks on several occasions, Budden left the show in December 2017. Akademiks has since started his own Spotify podcast.
Budden recalled: “Then Elliott called and was like, ‘I don’t know if I’m doing it, Joe. I got an offer over here, I’m living over here. I think I’m pulling out out of respect for you, I’m letting you know.'”
“Then it was like, ‘Ok, now we have a genius concept, but these shows are personality based and that’s a chemistry thing. When you have to search for chemistry, you are in a bind. So Noah [Callahan-Bever] at Complex, he was like, ‘Alright, I’ma just start bringing some people in, we’ll start looking at some people.’ And Ak was one of those people.”
Check out Budden's full explanation of what went down below.
[Via]