If you’ve wondered why Desiinger’s career never continued it’s “Panda” momentum while the rapper was under G.O.O.D. Music, let him tell his side of the story. Back in 2016, the New York rapper inked a deal with Kanye West’s label, and while his hitmaker”Panda” brought in chart-topping, worldwide attention, fans didn’t see Desiigner‘s career escalate to expectations.

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Last year, Desiigner announced that he has split ways with G.O.O.D. Music, without giving an explanation. He’s been petitioning to be released for some tim and today (May 14), he chatted with Everyday Struggle where he revealed what happened. “I was happy and sh*t and then it was kinda weird with certain things like, I hear from my team. Even with certain records that I put out, I had certain criticism like sometimes I sound like Future or some sh*t,” he said. “I just didn’t want to be around that sh*t.”

He added that he attempted to reach out to Kanye directly, but it was just too difficult to get the label boss on the line. “I was just like, I gotta get my situation right. I got a journey, I started it all… Let me just get off the situation, get comfortable, start rolling this sh*t out, start rolling this sh*t from the ground up if I have to. At the end of the day, I got fans all around the world that still love me.”

Desiigner also stated that he’s been hitting the studio heavily. “I haven’t been trying to follow too many waves, you know. I mean [I’m] really sticking to my own path,” he told the hosts. “Still, the situation, I had to get out that G.O.O.D. Music sh*t. I just felt uncomfortable.” Watch Desiigner on Everyday Struggle below.

There was once a time when Joe Budden and DJ Akademiks' strange yet fascinating dynamic on Everyday Struggle made for premium afternoon entertainment. True, they seldom saw eye to eye on matters both musical and philosophical, but seeing them gain begrudging respect for one another made for one of the era's definite feel-good bromances. And then came the split from Complex, which found Budden pursuing greener pastures while Ak stood firm on the show he helped build. 

It's hard to argue that both men made the right choice, given that Everyday Struggle remains successful and Budden's own ventures like REVOLT's State Of The Culture and The Joe Budden Podcast have cemented him as a dominant voice in hip-hop media. Still, there are many who still wonder what transpired behind the scenes, an old wound that was recently poked and prodded when State Of The Culture hit up The Breakfast Club. When the topic of Everyday Struggle was raised, Joe declared the split to be Complex's "biggest business blunder in a decade." "I love Wayno and I love Ak," says Joe. "I appreciate that the show is still on, but it's different."

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Sadly, Akademiks was none too pleased with his former co-host discussing business on a public platform and took to his Twitch feed to unleash an emotional rant. After voicing that Budden essentially used him as leverage during negotiations, Ak claimed that Everyday Struggle was still more successful that State Of The Culture. "Joe probably get ninety percent of the bread," says Ak. "That's all he ever wanted. Great for him, but view-wise? You can say Everyday Struggle ain't what it was in terms of cultural impact when Joe was there, but is anybody talking about State Of The Culture?"

"I'm trying to tell you to tame that ego," continues Ak. "And I've let ego get the best of me at times. I've said certain shit. Just chill out bro. I'm not upset at what your doing, I love what you're doing...It's dope! I want to get in the podcast game, it's never no hate. But when you try to position me not getting down with ya'll.  It's like you wanted me to be your son, I'm not nobody's son in this shit. All ya'll n***as are starting to realize the benefit of a platform." He maintains that he feels like he's been "thrown to the wolves," and reiterates that he would have never done the same to Joe. Yet twenty seconds later, he's claiming that Joe asked Complex for "three percent of the company" during his negotiation -- the plot thickens. 

You can check out the full rant below, as well as Joe's seemingly cavalier response -- perhaps these two need to sit down on one of their respective platforms and hash it out like the buddies they were once growing to be. 

With a brand new No. 1 album in his bag, Lil Baby is on top of the world and you wouldn’t necessarily expect him to be asking for help from other artists. Wouldn’t it be the other way around? I can only imagine how crowded the Atlanta rapper’s direct messages are with clout-hungry creatives trying to get on through his co-sign. Still, Lil Baby recognizes that he doesn’t have all the tools to succeed. His blow-up did not happen overnight and, while much of it happened due to his own vision, he received help on several fronts. One man who gave him some pointers was North Carolina rapper DaBaby.

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Much of DaBaby’s rise occurred because of how charismatic he is. He’s just so likeable and, in his music videos, he gives off a care-free, happy-go-lucky vibe that keeps fans gravitating more toward his personality. That’s something that Lil Baby thought he could use some help on, so he went to the man himself to get some tips.

“I hit him like, bro, turn me on to your video folks. For real, I done asked him to write the treatment for me for one of my videos cause I’m seeing that that’ll help me. I ain’t no hater at all,” said Lil Baby about DaBaby on Everyday Struggle. “I ain’t ashamed to be like, ‘turn me onto them folk.’ I ain’t tryna steal no n***a’s swag or nothing, like, it’s enough money for all of us.”

Likewise, if anybody needs specific pointers from Lil Baby, he says he’s not opposed to handing out game. Shout-out to one of the realest out right now. Watch below at the 24:30 mark.

Jadakiss is set to drop off his long-awaited new album Ignatius this Friday, with appearances from John Legend, Rick Ross, Pusha T, Ty Dolla $ign and more. Should you be so inclined, you can check out the full tracklist right here. With only a few more days until launch, Jadakiss came through to brave the early morning hours for an appearance on Everyday Struggle, where he linked up with Akademiks, Nadeska, and Wayno to discuss his new album, his place in the industry, Diddy and Mase’s recent feud, the construction of the classic “Blackout” posse cut, and much more.

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Following the revelation that Styles P was firing subs at Jay-Z on “Reservoir Dogs,” Wayno asked if the same process occurred on the classic DMX posse cut “Blackout.” “When we did ‘Blackout,’ Ruff Ryders was where we wanted to be in a sense,” says Jada. “At that time we used to work on a couple albums at a time. If X’s budget was open we were able to work on The Lox album off of X’s budget. It could be The Lox budget, and Drag-On would be able to come in. We’d always get a two-for-one on whoever’s budget we was working on. At that time, we were working on X’s project and going to Cali to do it. We went to LA and went to the studio, that was the first song we did.”

“It was me, Styles, Louch. X didn’t record his verse yet, and Hov didn’t record his verse yet,” continues Jada. “Hov was going overseas on tour. He was actually sick. You can hear it, he had a cold if you hear his verse. That was the camp, it was just working. Nobody had an issue…For me that record was big cause I got a hip-hop quotable, which at that time was the thing to get.” Check out the full story below, and show some love to the legendary rapper right here in the comments.

For many rappers who enter into the music industry, the end goal is to become rich and famous. They want to enjoy all of the luxuries of life with a never-ending bank account—but for others, solidifying themselves as power players in the business world is the ultimate goal. It’s common to see artists move between being in the spotlight and the boardroom, including Waka Flocka who recently revealed his motivation behind finding new streams of revenue outside of hip hop.

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“Imma be honest with you,” Waka told Everyday Struggle. “In 2012, 2013, I had $30 million. At that point in life—I’m being, real, on my dead brother—why was I rapping? I’m rich. I wanted to be rich. So, from that time to right now, I wanted to figure out how can I become a billionaire and a multi-millionaire off of business. Because I did it with rap. I was a wack rapper, like I knew I was wack, but I was real. See what I’m saying? My realness overcame my wackness.”

Waka went on to list his favorite emcees including DMX, Nas, KRS-One, and Goodie Mob. “I can’t rap like them folks,” Waka said, adding that if he were to get in the booth with Kendrick Lamar, K-Dot would out-rap him. “For me, this is just me talking for me. This is me. I’m a Gemini so my only friends gon’ be me,” he said. “I’m a wack rapper but a hell of an entertainer.” Check out Waka Flocka’s appearance on Everyday Struggle below.

It was four years ago when a tense moment on The Breakfast Club became a meme. It's one of the most talked-about incidents on the radio talk show: Birdman wanted The Breakfast Club to "put some respect on my name." It was clear back in 2016 that Birdman's real target was Charlamagne Tha God as the Cash Money leader addressed the radio host directly with pointed words.

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Last week, Birdman sat down with Everyday Struggle and was asked by Akademiks if he regretted the way he handled that situation. "Not at all," the rap mogul said. "It just was what it was and that's behind us. A n*gga grown and I believe in respect. I grew up on respect and I think disrespect, you deal with that sh*t accordingly. However you feel [you have] to deal with it and at that time I just wanted really to go and speak to that man and to let him know we believe in respect."

"Sometimes, bloggers get out of they character and say sh*t 'bout people that ain't got nothing to do with what's going on," Birman added. "I just felt the need to step to him, go there and see him and see what's happening. Just ask him to respect me." Birdman also said that although he may not be a person who reacts to the negativity that may be shared about him, he "sees all that sh*t." He continued, "You can't beat the internet. You gotta let it be."

Watch the clip of Everyday Struggle with Birdman below along with his heated exchange with Charlamagne Tha God from years ago.

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4 years ago Birdman pulled up to the breakfast club demanding respect from the 3 cohosts. Now he answers if he regrets that move or not.

A post shared by DJ Akademiks (@akadmiks) on Feb 24, 2020 at 10:46pm PST