CANCEL CULTURE IS NEEDED...???
Yesterday, on Everyday Struggle, Nadeska asked DJ Akademiks and Wayno their thoughts on cancel culture. Akademiks, who feels that some tried to recently cancel him, jumped at the opportunity to give his 2 cents on the topic. After revealing that he does think cancel culture is needed, Akademiks divulged:
"I felt cancel culture kinda came after we realized certain people that we may have loved as celebrities they were doing some real fck'd up sh*t and probably used their power as celebrity or whatever position of power they were in to probably oppress other people. WE realized at a certain point you gotta cancel them muthfckaz."
Is it just me, or did DJ Akademiks just described an industry blackballing? I think he had a specific person in mind when he gave his definition of cancel culture, but I won't go down that rabbit hole. My understanding of the origins of cancel culture was originally to deal with public figures who have crossed a moral line or committed a crime that we as a society / Hip Hop culture could not condone. People like R. Kelly, Bill Cosby, and Tory Lanez are what cancel culture was made for, not celebrities who use their power to their advantage.
Speaking of Tory Lanez, DJ Akademiks is still running around trying to "poison the well" when it comes to this incident with Megan Thee Stallion. Every time there is a scandal involving a female rapper, Livingston makes sure to be on the opposing side unless that female is named Cardi B. We all know of his vendetta against Nicki Minaj, he had a field day spreading false narratives about Doja Cat during her drama, and now this Megan Thee Stallion mess. This is why when people try to cancel him, no one gives a sh*t.
CANCEL CULTURE IS THE SON OF BLACKBALLING
I want to address why I think cancel culture has gotten out of hand within the Hip Hop / R & B. I believe that the reason we see cancellation parties almost everyday is due to HOW Nicki Minaj was blackballed. Nicki Minaj was not blackballed in the same way as Janet Jackson. Janet was ostracized behind the scenes. Many fans did not even realize she was being sabotaged, which allowed the music industry to make it appear like Janet had fallen off.
Nicki Minaj's blackballing is a carbon copy of the Lebron James hate train. When Lebron James made "The Decision" to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh in Miami, he was publicly bashed by the media, who encouraged fans to participate daily in the social media attacks. It became like a sporting event to hate on Lebron. It brought families, friends, and co-workers together.
Similar to what happened in the sports world, the Hip Hop culture adopted that fan participation element when it came to the blackballing of Nicki Minaj. Nicki was publicly ostracized, disrespected by the industry, and fans were encouraged to participate in the hate. Not to mention, the culture rewarded a non-Black female and rookie after she tried to physically attack Nicki Minaj. That sent a clear message to those people within and outside the culture that anything goes. I remember being told by someone who was bashing Nicki on Twitter that he was only doing it because it was now cool to hate on her, and he was bored.
Here is where the cancel culture turns toxic. As Nicki Minaj fights back against attacks that are increasingly becoming crueler and over the top, people begin to feel like Nicki is being bullied. People are cold on social media, but most people don't' want to identify as bullies. So, people's interest in fck'n with Nicki starts to wane because she has this built-in nostalgia factor. Even if they don't fck with the current Nicki, they fck'd with Nicki in the past. So, people get burned out with fck'n with Nicki, especially since we were never given the reason for the hate train, but they don't get burned out with fck'n with people. People still want to come together for the sole purpose of tearing someone down just for sport. So, since the culture OK'd attacks on a superstar like Nicki Minaj, anyone on her level or below can get it, and that leaves a lot of muthafckaz open to attacks.
During my Instagram days, I wrote about how the new female rappers, mainly the Black one, need to stand up for Nicki Minaj, even if they don't fck with her for whatever reason, because they should fck with self-preservation. Whatever happens to Nicki Minaj will happen to them. If you notice that girls who have topped the charts, there has been an attempt to cancel them. We have Lizzo, Megan Thee Stallion, and Doja Cat. I do believe that certain labels/teams use cancel culture to get rid of the competition. But that is whole another topic. But, this problem would not be so out of control with everyone getting canceled if the door was not opened with the blackballing of Nicki Minaj.
The blackballing of Nicki Minaj birthed this current cancel culture that is ruining Hip Hop and R&B.
REWRITING CARDI B'S HISTORY - PROPA-DEMIKS
Back to the Everyday Struggle, their show about cancel culture was centered around Cardi B being canceled. We all know that the 3 Stooges are sympathetic to Cardi B's come-up story of growing up in the hood with a loving father, loving mother, loving sister, and loving grandmother. However, while still on the topic of cancel culture, DJ Akademiks, for some strange reason, decided to not only bring up Cardi B's past of drugging and robbing men but lied about the circumstances surrounding that story. For someone who claims he does not lie, I always catch him lying.
Propaganda is communication that is used primarily to influence an audience and further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be presenting facts selectively to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded language to produce an emotional rather than a rational response to the information that is presented.
Akademiks characterized that video where Cardi B admitted to drugging and robbing men as her trying to
be funny. Uh..??? To make it clear, this is not about Ole Girl, this is about why would DJ Akademiks bring up a past incident that no one is thinking about just to tell a lie? Not only that, but he and Wayno also debated the issue on a past show, and his stance was not that Belcalis was joking. We see what he is doing with 6ix9ine and Tory Lanez. Is he working for Cardi B now?
From what I am witnessing, Akademiks has moved from pushing false narratives to full-on propaganda. On a recent show, DJ Akademiks had attributed something that Nicki Minaj said to Cardi B. I thought it was strange, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and chalked it up to his mouth moving faster than his brain. But, after seeing how he is moving, he may have done that sh*t on purpose.
Akademiks is another "Cult of Personality" that found success in 2017, along with Cardi B and Donald Trump. As he builds his media empire, his ego has grown out of control. He runs around trying to control the narratives of people he fcks with and people he doesn't fck with.
WHAT DO Y'ALL THINK WAS DJ AKDEMIKS GOAL IN REWRITING CARDI B'S HISTORY AND WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS ON CANCEL CULTURE?
Video courtesy of Everyday Struggle - Aug. 25th, 2020 & Mar. 27th, 20, 2019
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