DJ Akademiks Says Drake Still Isn’t Bigger Than Michael Jackson Despite New Records.
DJ Akademiks is one of Drake’s biggest supporters, but even he does not believe Drake has surpassed Michael Jackson overall.
After Drake’s massive ICEMAN album run, the rapper recently broke several Billboard records. His song “Janice STFU” debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100, giving him 14 number-one hits and officially passing Michael Jackson for the most chart-toppers by a male solo artist. Drizzy also dominated the Billboard 200 with ICEMAN, HABIBTI, and MAID OF HONOUR debuting at No. 1, No. 2, and No. 3 at the same time.
Because of those achievements, some fans online started claiming Drake is now bigger than Michael Jackson. However, Akademiks recently explained during a livestream why he disagrees with that idea. “I think he’s put up a lot of musical accomplishments that maybe surpass Michael in certain things,” Academiks said. “But there is one gold standard when it comes to popularity, and it’s Michael Jackson.”
Akademiks made it clear that he respects Drizzy’s success, but believes MJ’s worldwide impact was on a completely different level. According to him, music audiences today are divided into many separate fanbases and genres, while Michael was loved by almost everybody at the same time. “Mike would’ve been Bad Bunny, Taylor Swift, and Drake in one,” Akademiks explained.
He continued by saying that modern artists often dominate specific audiences, while Jackson connected with nearly every type of music listener around the world. “People just liked Michael Jackson no matter what,” Ak said. “If you listened to music, you liked him.”
🚨 Akademiks says Drake isn’t anywhere near as big as Michael Jackson
Ak says Drake may have passed Mike in certain music accomplishments…
but when it comes to pure popularity there’s still only one gold standard: Michael Jackson
his argument:
what Drake, Taylor Swift & Bad… pic.twitter.com/NSs28EJpk3
— CY Chels (@SeewhyChels) May 27, 2026
The comments quickly sparked debates online between Drake fans and Michael Jackson fans. Some people agreed with Ak and argued that MJ’s influence on music, dance, fashion, concerts, and pop culture remains unmatched even decades later. Others defended Drake by pointing to his streaming dominance, record-breaking chart numbers, and ability to stay on top of hip-hop and pop music for more than 15 years.
Read more: Charlamagne Tha God Questions Drake Breaking Michael Jackson’s Billboard Record
Even though Akademiks does not believe Drake is bigger than Michael Jackson overall, he still praised Drake’s recent accomplishments and admitted that very few artists in history have reached this level of chart success.
The ICEMAN era continues to be one of the biggest commercial moments of Drake’s career, with the rapper breaking Billboard, Spotify, and Apple Music records almost every week.
