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    When the Culture Vulture Loses His Wings

    By 5 Mins Read
    DJ Vlad Image credit: Brilliant Idiots/ Wikimedia Commons

    This weekend as Drake and Kendrick Lamar continue their FDA-rated beef with each other, an unlike but not unlikely commentator, DJ Vlad, entered the chat to give his two cents, and sh*t went even farther left, well at least for Vlad anyway.

    DJ Vlad, whose birth name is Vladislav Lyubovny, is a Russian-born 50-year-old hip-hop journalist who has been making it his business to be in Black people’s business for about 20 years. Vlad was initially a DJ but found out that he would not be able to make any money in that particular field, and it was probably because he was not good at it. He then turned his sights to YouTube, where he began uploading footage of actually talented people full-time. Vlad’s ventures have allowed him the type of success that only a Calabasas resident would know. 

    After Kendrick released his fifty-leventh diss track against Drake, Vlad xitted that the song was not mixed well and was swiftly met with a stay outta Black folks business-esque response of “You are WHITE. This is a BLACK FOLK AFFAIR,” from Morgan Jerkins, a professor at Princeton University and also Rodney “Darkchild” Jerkins’ niece.

    Technically, it’s like a 75% Black affair, but I digress.

    Vlad, clearly pissed that someone told a rich white man to stay in his place, then responded by mentioning Morgan’s employer, Princeton, in a xweet where he essentially ‘called them people on her‘ and tried to get her fired. Today, he claims that was not the case, but whenever an employer is tagged, it’s either to give you a commendation for your job or to alert your employer that they have a piece of sh*t employee and maybe the company should do a bit of restructuring. Seeing that the original conversation devolved into a mantrum, I’m pretty sure it was the latter and not the former. 

    Does DJ Vlad have the right to express his opinion? Sure, on the surface, we all do, but that does not mean that the opinion is warranted or necessary, and in this case, his response to Morgan Jerkins may have done more damage than he could’ve imagined. The tide quickly turned and even Marc Lamont Hill was pissed.

    Vlad is the arsenic on top of a warm hot chocolate chip cookie (SN: it’s a shame what they did to those kids in Flowers in the Attic) that so many rappers can’t resist opening their mouths for. Numerous times, rappers have taken the bait and have since found themselves facing indictments after sitting down for his interviews. Vlad has also had run-ins with rappers because, for some reason or another, they have not done or wanted to sit down for his interviews. Vince Staples expressed his disinterest because of what Vlad’s platform promotes: the worst stereotypes of hip-hop culture.

    Vlad’s guerilla-style interview tactics are so bold that you will either look bad when you answer or so bold that you will look bad if you don’t, so it is a fair thing that many artists do not want to associate with a platform that may be their own downfall.

    One could say that DJ Vlad is staying in his lane because we have allowed him to merge in with Black culture, but who is to say that Black people are the audience that has made him the richest? 

    White people, specifically the suburban male version, are the largest consumers of hip-hop in this country, and with the ubiquity of Black culture online and the mindset that the internet has helped to stoke, access equaling ownership, it is no wonder that people like Vlad think they have the right to speak on a culture they are visiting, or in Vlad’s case pillaging.

    When KevOnStage, the hugely popular and notoriously nice internet comedian, does not like you, boy, that might signal the fall of The Iron Curtain, and rightfully so. Vlad is no more a part of hip-hop culture than a white record executive who makes money from murder music. Again, while he is entitled to his opinion, that does not mean that his opinion is not based on a habit of drawing blood from the most banal and virulent parts of hip-hop culture and not recognizing that what he deems salacious, others deem as a part of survival.

    He is only interested in showcasing the most indecent parts of hip-hop culture because he does not care to see the beautiful.

    Just like a vulture, he feeds only on the decay. 

    Kyla Jenée Lacey is an accomplished third-person bio composer. Her spoken word has garnered tens of millions of views, and has been showcased on Pop Sugar, Write About Now, Buzzfeed, Harper’s Bizarre, Diet Prada, featured on the Tamron Hall show, and Laura Ingraham from Fox News called her work, “Anti-racist propaganda.”. She has performed spoken word at over 300 colleges in over 40 states. Kyla has been a finalist in the largest regional poetry slam in the country, no less than five times, and was nominated as Campus Activities Magazine Female Performer of the Year. Her work has been acknowledged by several Grammy-winning artists. Her poetry has been viewed over 50 million times and even used on protest billboards in multiple countries. She has written for large publications such as The Huffington Post, BET.com, and the Root Magazine and is the author of "Hickory Dickory Dock, I Do Not Want Your C*ck!!!," a book of tongue-in-cheek poems, about patriarchy....for manchildren.

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