"Too bad they canceled the goat" - DJ Akademiks claims nobody can beat Kanye West in a Verzuz battle 

DJ Akademiks recently claimed that rapper Kanye West, professionally known as Ye, would be unbeatable in a Verzuz battle against any rapper "dead alive or in the future." For the uninformed, Verzuz is a music battle series created by Swizz Beatz and Timbaland in 2020, where musical artists battle each other.

This year's Verzuz was held at ComplexCon in Las Vegas on October 25, 2025, after a three-year hiatus. The lineup included artists of Cash Money Records and No Limit Records facing each other in battle. Artists liked Birdman, Mannie Fresh, Juvenile, and B.G. represented Cash Money, going up against Master P, Choppa, Mia X, Fiend, and Snoop Dogg of No Limit.

On November 2, 2025, DJ Akademiks went on social media to share his thoughts about Verzuz and Kanye West. The media personality claimed that West was the "king" of rap battles, adding that it was "too bad" that people have "canceled" him.

"Nobody beats Kanye West in a verzuz. He’s the king of that. Too bad they canceled the goat… so we won’t ever see it. But no rapper dead alive or in the future beats Ye," he wrote.

Notably, Kanye West has never appeared on Verzuz. However, he reportedly expressed interest in battling Drake. During a 2021 interview with Swizz Beatz and Timbaland on Power 105.1's The Angie Martinez Show, the former told the radio host that West had approached him to set up a battle against Drake.

“Kanye was willing to do the Verzuz … He wanted to battle Drake. I left that up to them, and that’s what I told Timb, as well. I was like, ‘Yo, they have to bring that to the table.’ They would have to agree to do that. Kanye was ready, but I don’t know where that’s at now. I’m still leaving it on them," he said.

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DJ Akademiks interviewed Kanye West in March 2025

In March 2025, DJ Akademiks posted an interview with Kanye West, featuring the rapper in a KKK-inspired robe and black hood. During the interview, West spoke about his peers and other celebrities, including his ex-wife, Kim Kardashian, and his former collaborator, the late Virgil Abloh.

West also shared his thoughts about the rap battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, saying that Drake was a "million times better" than Lamar.

“One thing is, Drake is a million times better than Kendrick and a million times more important. What Future has done, [Young] Thug, Drake, culturally — that s**t last year, I could barely sit through that s**t. That s**t was insane, bro. Had Lucian Grainge, Universal, Drake lawsuit s**t written all over it. At the end of the day, all this s**t I’m saying – Jim Jones, Kendrick, all these celebrities – the funny thing is, we’re all in the same boat,” Kanye West said.

This seemingly contradicted his earlier comments about the 2024 rap battle. Ye, who previously feuded with Drake, told Justin Laboy during an interview in April 2024 that everyone was "excited" and "energized" about the "elimination of Drake," as reported by Complex.

The interview came days after Kanye West released a remix version of Like That. For context, the original version of Like That, Metro Boomin and Future's track featuring Kendrick Lamar, was released in March 2024 and saw the Compton rapper diss Drake and J. Cole, kicking off the rap beef that dominated the music industry for months.

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In other news, Kanye West's new documentary, In Whose Name?, was released in September 2025. The documentary depicted six years of his life, as director Nico Ballesteros recorded over 6,000 hours of footage, "bearing witness to brilliance, breakdowns, triumphs, turmoil, paranoia, and intensity that increasingly shaped Ye's world," as described by IMDb.

Edited by Juhi Marzia