Though Joe Budden and DJ Akademiks have had their share of petty arguments, the two finally got together to discuss what led to Budden parting ways with Everyday Struggle in December 2017.
During the most recent episode of Off The Record, Budden said that he attempted to push for Ak and his former co-host Nadeska to receive fair pay.
“Do us right,” Budden began. “That’s the other misconception. I’m never going in there yelling and screaming so Joe can be done right. I’ve been homeless. I’ll be fine. I have people’s houses I can sleep at if times get hard. I’m fighting for y’all to do the right thing by us, the people who made the show.” Ak interjected, “But no matter what, you don’t leave,” Budden said, “That’s not true. You have to leave.”
According to Akademiks, Budden’s salary demands would have been met sooner if he had been patient.
“You know in business — and unfortunately, this exists — you have to be realistic, especially when there’s a contract already in place, that you operate in good faith,” he said. “After you completed a contract, the subsequent deals, offers, and contracts will be better. You stopped playing ball at nine months.”
Akademiks said that he tried to give up a portion of his salary so that it may go to Budden, something Budden warned him not to do in the future. Ultimately, Budden left because of $10,000.
Budden explained, “I was getting $22,000 a month, $19,000 a month after I paid Ian. The next cycle, I wanted it to double. When my contract was up, I wanted $50,000 a month. They came back and said something like $40,000. I said, ‘Forty?’ […] They didn’t, and they wouldn’t.”
In 2020, Akademiks proposed his explanation for why Everyday Struggle failed.
He said, “I’ll answer the why in case anyone does care. The ‘why’ of why the show is ending, I think Complex, and I are going in different directions. At least how we see Everyday Struggle, mainly my employment for Everyday Struggle as how we see my brand and how they see me as someone who’s worked there for a while … I will say overall I have nothing bad to say about Complex.”
However, it appeared that there was more to the story. After referring to John Legend’s wife Chrissy Teigen as a “b*tch,” Akademiks was temporarily suspended from the show in July 2020. He also got into an argument online with Freddie Gibbs, which did not end well. He acknowledged that both scenarios were the causes of the show’s demise.
“Yes, it was a very weird moment with the Chrissy Teigen thing, but it wasn’t only that,” he continued. “I received calls from them about other content that they felt I probably shouldn’t been engaged in. I specifically told them, ‘Listen, while you may look at me as the ‘guy’ on your show, I have a whole different brand to run.’ When Freddie Gibbs was on his thing … remember I got suspended for my little Twitch thing and I referred to Chrissy Teigen … whatever, whatever.”
