DJ Akademiks Questions Whether Drake Still Identifies As Jewish

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LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 03: Drake performs on day 1 of the New Look Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park on July 3, 2015 in London, England. (Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage)
DJ Akademiks discussed Drake's silence on Israel while speaking with DJ Vlad.

DJ Akademiks discussed Drake's decision to remain silent on the conflict between Israel and Palestine while speaking with DJ Vlad for a new interview. Vlad previously criticized both Drake and DJ Khaled for their silence on the topic.

"I do think when it comes to Drake and Khaled, it's probably a concerted effort of not trying to isolate people," Akademiks began. "It's like, 'If I say something, what will it even matter?'" To that point, Vlad disagrees, citing their billions of followers. When Akademiks proposed the idea of putting out a vague statement on the matter, Vlad described it as a "start."

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NEW ORLEANS, LA - SEPTEMBER 02: Aubrey Drake Graham aka Drake at Smoothie King Center on September 2, 2016 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images)

Later in the interview, Akademiks wonders whether Drake even still identifies as Jewish, noting that he rarely speaks about it. "I think he's gone away from trying to be the, 'Hey, this is the Jewish rapper,'" Akademiks said. He also brought up Kendrick Lamar's commitment to the Black community as a comparison. Check out Akademiks and Vlad's conversation below.

DJ Akademiks Discusses Drake's Silence On Israel

As for Vlad's previous comments, he called out Drake and Khaled in a lengthy rant on social media, earlier this month. He wrote in part: “It's because both are so thirsty to maintain their relevance that they wouldn't dare risk insulting a segment of their fanbase. Heaven forbid that Drake might debut at #2 behind Taylor Swift because some of his Palestinian fans chose to not stream his album. And it would be the end of the world if Khaled sold a few less sneakers because some Jewish people decided not to buy his Jordans. That's the difference between artists of today and timeless legends like 2Pac. You know damn well Pac would be the first one to speak out about something so close to home.” Be on the lookout for any comments from Drake on the matter on HotNewHipHop.

[Via]

About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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