December 17 will mark the last day of Complex's Everyday Struggle, and DJ Akademiks has quite a bit to say on his way out. We previously reported on the news that Akademiks announced that Everyday Struggle was coming to an end, as will his employment with Complex. During his candid chat with his Twitch viewers about his exit, Akademiks had a few words about Joe Budden and his podcast co-hosts.
"Nine months in, Joe left. Joe kinda offered an invitation to come to REVOLT," said Ak. "I'ma be honest with you, I wasn't with it... Listen, I'm not Rory and I'm not [Mal]. It should be very evident what I built because them bum ass n*ggas are struggling. Facts! I’m gonna be aight. You know what I like about what Joe did?... Joe making millions, he don’t care. You see them little bum ass n*ggas that y'all be like Rory and Mini Mal? Them n*ggas is living like check-to-check. Them n*ggas is really down bad. That was never me.”
Akademiks went on to say that Joe Budden can confirm that when Ak visited his house for the first time, he was driving a luxury vehicle. “I pulled up to his crib in a $180,000 car. G-Wagon. Facts! I got that from YouTube. I was doing really well, I was making $100,000 a month. We went to Complex, they were giving us $10,000 for—it was supposed to be a weekly show."
It's clear that Akademiks has respect for Budden, calling him a "great creative" who rejected the weekly offer because he wanted to broadcast daily. "So we accepted the terms of a daily show. I said, 'Eh.' Again, I was never there for money. I didn’t collect a check from them for six months. I’m good already. That's the parallel in between where I've been."
He added that he took the gig because he wanted to "be a mainstream name," not just being known as the "YouTube guy." You can check out his full announcement below but his comments about Budden, Rory, and Mal begin a little before the 15-minute mark.