DJ Akademiks Passionately Argues That Drake Needs Hits On "ICEMAN"

BY Zachary Horvath
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ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 9: Rapper Drake performs onstage during "Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert" at State Farm Arena on December 9, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)
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Recently, folks in Drake's circle have encouraged him to ditch the hits for more bar-heavy tracks, but DJ Akademiks completely disagrees.

Earlier this week, Memphis rapper BenDaDonnn revealed that he had a conversation about ICEMAN with Drake. While on stream with DDG, he claimed that he heard several songs from it and liked what he was hearing. Although he enjoyed the "turnt up club" tracks and "sh*t for the ladies" Drizzy had on it, he also informed him that may not be the right formula for success.

Ben says he told The Boy: "Bro, we need some bars." He allegedly replied with "'You know what, say no more.'" According to him, the Toronto native removed a lot of songs to make room for these more bar-heavy cuts.

DJ Akademiks, another one of Drake's biggest fans, came across this very clip featuring BenDaDonnn. Overall, he couldn't disagree more with what he believes will make ICEMAN good.

In a clip from his most recent livestream caught by joebuddenclips, Akademiks firmly believes that the album desperately needs hit songs that will dominate the charts. He passionately argues that now that Kendrick Lamar and his last tape, GNX, aren't really popping anymore, Ak sees this as the perfect opportunity for him to overload the Hot 100.

When Is Drake Dropping ICEMAN?

The hip-hop pundit is fine with a few tracks that BenDaDonnn is looking for. But Akademiks wants several songs that are going to be played at clubs, on the radio, and at parties for the next year at least he says.

He believes that his 2018 project Scorpion is the blueprint for ICEMAN to really succeed. Ak warns Drake that if he doesn't follow this route, then the tape will fail.

Overall, his passionate take on the matter just proves how massive of a release this is for Drizzy. While it's plausible to say that fans will listen to whatever Drake puts out, Akademiks doesn't just want people to tune in. He wants ICEMAN to stick.

Hopefully, it will as hip-hop could certainly benefit from an album of this magnitude. It's been a little up-and-down from a consistency standpoint, especially from the mainstream. If Drake pulls through, then we may see an elongated run again from rappers of this ilk again.

But the tape has to drop first and it's looking like it really may take a while. Chris Blake Griffith recently claimed that The 6ix God is refusing to drop it because of his ongoing legal battle with UMG. Akademiks also previously predicted it would come out in about three months a couple of weeks ago. All we can do is wait, unfortunately.

About The Author
Zachary Horvath is one of the Music Freelance News Writers at HotNewHipHop and has held that title since August 2023. Prior to this position, he held another freelance gig covering local high school football, girls and boys varsity basketball, in addition to recapping Cleveland Cavaliers games remotely. He's taken the previous experience and used it to become a jack of all trades at HotNewHipHop. Zach has thoroughly enjoyed tackling some of the trending topics in sports, with a larger focus on hip-hop and pop culture. Some of those include Bronny James's draft stock, a multitude of angles swirling around the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef, as well as Diddy's arrest and lawsuits. Separate from the headlines that everyone wants to hear about, he was fortunate enough to help spread Zaytoven's current thoughts at the time around mid-December in 2023. Even though being able to give his expertise on these stories is fulfilling, being able to share his passion for releases trumps that ever so slightly. Having the chance to express his excitement indirectly about what he thinks our readers should be checking out/revisiting grows his passion for writing that much more.

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