Joe Budden has weighed in on DJ Akademiks’ reaction to The Tupac Tapes with Angie Martinez, and he did not hold back. Budden told his former Everyday Struggle co-host, “you just being willfully obtuse.”
The comment follows Akademiks’ response to the Netflix trailer, which HotNewHipHop covered earlier this week. Ak argued that hip-hop media is guilty of hypocrisy. He said that he, DJ Vlad, and Adam22 are routinely accused of “inciting violence” with their coverage, while Martinez is now being celebrated for doing the same thing.
Akademiks also claimed he is sitting on an NBA YoungBoy interview that he refuses to air. According to Ak, YoungBoy asked him to release it after he dies, but Ak said he does not want to think about that.
Why The Tupac Tapes With Angie Martinez Is Dividing Hip-Hop Media
Martinez interviewed Tupac Shakur in 1996, three months before his death. The conversation never fully aired. Martinez worried that Tupac’s comments on his many feuds could put him and others in danger.
Three decades later, she is sharing the full tapes in a four-part video podcast. The Tupac Tapes with Angie Martinez premieres on Netflix on November 27. Charlamagne Tha God and Budden are among the guests who will help unpack the interview.
That detail adds a layer to Budden’s pushback, since he is part of the project Akademiks criticized.
The timeline is central to the debate. A release 30 years later carries far less risk of real-world fallout, and Netflix would be unlikely to attach itself to material that could harm the people named. Budden’s remark suggests he believes Ak is ignoring that gap on purpose.
Budden and Akademiks share a long history. They co-hosted Everyday Struggle at Complex beginning in 2017, and they have traded jabs repeatedly this year, including over gambling criticism and coverage of Drake.
Neither the series nor this exchange is likely to quiet the conversation before the premiere.
