The Nation of Islam and its leader, Minister Louis Farrakhan, are upset with well-known media personality DJ Vlad. The problem started when Vlad interviewed comedian DL Hughley on his VladTV show and talked about Minister Farrakhan’s July Fourth World Address. NOI members feel that DJ Vlad misconstrued the Minister’s words to taint him as calling for violence against Jews.
Vlad said that Farrakhan not only calls Jews “Satan” but also encourages people to pick up a rock to throw it at them. But in the actual Farrakhan speech, the Minister encourages people to pick up “the stone of truth” against “so-called” Jews who are not being “true” Jews.
NOI members are complaining that Vlad’s representation of Farrakhan is untrue and they made a video rebuttal in response to DJ Vlad’s commentary.
So outraged are NOI members, that they have created a Change.org petition to demand that YouTube take down the offending interview.
Hip-hop artists Kam and 1/2 Pint, Dr. Shango Blake, chairman of the Education and Youth Committee of the Million Man March Coordinating Council of Queens, NY, and others defended Farrakhan during a recent panel discussion on Hip Hop 4 Justice Live.
There have long been questions about DJ Vlad’s credibility as a journalist.
Born Vladimir Lyubovny, he is a former rap mixtape DJ who transitioned to hip-hop video journalism when he launched VladTV.com in 2008.
“Very quickly, Vlad established himself as an interviewer primarily interested in rappers’ personal and illicit histories; Rick Ross’s entourage, Vlad alleged, attacked him as retribution for a video in which he interviewed other rappers about Ross’s past career as a corrections officer in Miami,” The Ringer reported.
Vlad has been accused of often going for gossip instead of news or discussions about music. “Vlad is far less likely to ask about music, and far more likely to ask for detailed accounts of alleged criminal activities and incidents,” The Ringer reported.
Comedian Corey Holcomb claims that DJ Vlad, who has been called a culture vulture by some, is making millions off Black people and reportedly has a net worth of close to $10 million. During an interview with online personality and Nation Of Islam spokesperson Rizza Islam, Holcomb criticized Vlad.
It is speculated that artists go on his platform without charging Vlad, who makes money by “editing his videos into segments, raking in millions of views per video and Vlad receives funds in an advertisement,” The Source reported.
Holcomb said in an interview, “A lot of Black people feel more comfortable going to Vlad’s platform because he’s white. They feel like they made it. Whereas they won’t come to my platform, or others like mines, because it doesn’t feel like anything major. So then Vlad gets all these Black people talking about other Black people and capitalizes off it.”
Recently, Farrakhan denied a request to appear on VladTV.
