Akademiks is pushing back against the narrative that Drake was emotionally shaken during his highly publicized beef with Kendrick Lamar.
Speaking during a recent livestream, Akademiks reflected on conversations he had with Drake throughout the feud and said the Toronto superstar never appeared defeated, depressed, or overwhelmed despite the intense scrutiny surrounding the clash.
"Drake is an absolute strategist," Akademiks said. "His mind was working."
According to Akademiks, Drake did become frustrated at times by what he viewed as an uneven playing field, particularly when allegations and narratives spread rapidly online.
"He did get to a place where he's like, 'Yo, okay, it's one of those where everyone's against me,'" Akademiks explained. "Like, the refs ain't calling it fair no more. This guy could just make up whatever, even if it's a complete lie."
Still, Akademiks insisted that Drake never came across as emotionally broken by the battle.
"He was never sad," he said. "He was definitely focused and competitive. One hundred percent focused and competitive."
Akademiks recalled several instances where he contacted Drake about viral social media moments that appeared to be dominating online conversation, only to discover the rapper had no idea what he was talking about.
"There's moments I remember hitting him about something on Twitter," Akademiks said. "And I thought it was the biggest thing that happened that day. He was just like, 'Akademiks, what are you talking about?'"
The media personality said those interactions made him wonder whether Drake was intentionally tuning out online discourse or simply too focused on music to pay attention to every trending topic.
"I don't know if he was disconnected from some of the exact happenings," Akademiks admitted. "Some of the hate and some of the narratives they were trying."
Instead of obsessing over social media, Akademiks said Drake's energy was directed toward creating music and preparing responses in the studio.
"I remember him particularly telling me, 'Yo Ak, I'm in here fucking burning the midnight oil every day. I'm working. Fuck this vacation. I'm showing up,'" Akademiks recalled.
He added that Drake approached the battle with the mindset of a traditional MC, determined to defend himself once challenged.
"To me, he's the quintessential MC," Akademiks said. "He didn't necessarily want to jump in a battle, but if somebody says something, he's gonna defend himself and defend his fans."
He added, "I thought he dealt with it well. I never seen him sad and depressed. I'm just being honest about what I saw."
The comments arrive more than a year after the Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud dominated hip-hop and social media, producing multiple diss tracks and one of the most talked-about rap rivalries in recent memory.
On the music side, Drake released Iceman on May 15, his first solo post-feud full-length, along with surprise projects Habibti and Maid of Honour. The album includes two tracks, "Make Them Pay" and "Make Them Remember," that take direct aim at Lamar.
