"Kendrick is a puppet of Lucian" — DJ Akademiks reacts to Kanye West begging Kendrick Lamar to diss him on behalf of UMG's CEO

In a startling revelation, DJ Akademiks has weighed in on the latest controversy involving hip-hop icon Kendrick Lamar and his connection to Kanye West.

On March 18, 2025, the Jamaican-American podcaster Akademiks took to his X account. He shared a screenshot showing Kanye West seemingly mocking Kendrick Lamar and asking to diss him on behalf of Universal Music Group's CEO, Lucian Grainge.

In the post, the DJ alleged that the American rapper and record producer Ye confirmed that the Universal Music Group's CEO controls the Compton artist.

Akademiks' reaction came after Ye engaged in a lengthy rant on X on March 17, 2025, seemingly mocking Kendrick Lamar. He also shared his thoughts on Lamar's verse on Playboi Carti's album.

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DJ Akademiks weighs in on Kanye West asking Kendrick Lamar to diss him:

On Tuesday, March 18, 2025, the podcaster DJ Akademiks shared a post on his X account and suggested that Kanye West had said what everyone was thinking about Kendrick Lamar. DJ suggested that Lamar is Lucian Grainge's "puppet" —

"Ye confirms what we've all been thinking Kendrick is a puppet of Lucian," DJ wrote.

The conversation surrounding Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar began on Monday, March 17, 2025, when Ye posted on X about the significant increase in streaming numbers for his collaborative album with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures 1, released on Spotify on February 10, 2024.

In the same post, Kanye shared a screenshot of a story from Ty Dolla $ign's Instagram, in which Ty expressed that he does not "condone" any form of hate speech, seemingly mocking Ty Dolla with the comparison statistics of the collaborative album.

Ye wrote on X (Image via X/@kanyewest)

This seemed to subtly reference Kanye West, especially given that Ty Dolla made the statement in February 2025, when Kanye faced widespread scrutiny over his alleged antisemitic remarks.

"Ty Dolla Sign's streaming numbers experienced a substantial increase following the release of "Vultures 1," his collaborative album with Kanye West," the statistics read.

As a result, a user @wanderpill replied to West's post, indicating that Ye wants the "Meet the Grahams" from Kendrick Lamar.

In response, Ye suggested that he wants the Compton artist to diss him on behalf of UMG's CEO, as a reference to Lamar and Drake having underlying legal trouble, as Drake has accused UMG of artificially inflating Lamar's Not Like Us —

"No you just need Kendrick to give you your very own 'meet the grahams,'" a fan commented.

"KENDRICK PLEEEEASE COME DISS MEEEE ON BEHALF OF LUCIEN GRANGE PLEEEEEASE," Ye wrote.

Ye wrote on X (Image via X/@kanyewest)

Furthermore, Kanye West further escalated the conversation in a since-deleted post by suggesting that he did not like the Not Like Us song by Kendrick Lamar —

"I HAAAAAATED NOT LIKE US," Ye wrote.

On March 15, 2025, American rapper Ye expressed on X that he was displeased to see Kendrick Lamar featured on Playboi Carti's album I AM MUSIC. While Ye acknowledged Lamar's rapping ability, he said he would have preferred not to see it.

As of now, Kendrick Lamar, the Compton artist, has not yet responded to Ye's remarks.

Additionally, Ye has not yet addressed DJ Akademiks' comments regarding the situation.