DJ Akademiks has been receiving backlash for calling hip hop pioneers broke and “dusty.” The legendary MC Lyte is sounding off and calling the comments a disservice.

While on The Clay Cane Show on SiriusXM Urban View, Lyte was promoting season 2 of Partners in Rhyme on ALLBLK.tv, which is part of AMC’s streaming network. As a hip hop legend herself, she was asked about Akademiks’ comments.

“There's much more to learn, much more to know – if you're lucky enough, you get to live this long, right?” Lyte, 51, said. She honored Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, Melly Mel, Treacherous Three, and many others for paving the way for the artists of today.

As for Akademiks’ comments, Lyte explained, without mentioning his name, “I think it does a disservice to us as a community to think that way, but I also understand the generation that's coming up now, everything is the proof, and they want to see the proof, as opposed to feel the proof, or hear the proof. They want to see it. And so I imagine that's what this particular person was talking about, but needless to say, there are so many other people out there that are willing to share the truth and the history and also understand the value of everyone who has contributed to hip hop, everyone that's contributed something good.”

Lyte is the first female rapper nominated for a Grammy, the first hip hop artist to perform at Carnegie Hall, and the first female rapper to earn a gold single with 1993’s “Ruffneck.”

See the interview below:

Earlier this week, LL Cool J addressed Akademics, again, without saying his name, on Instagram Live, “Let me explain something to you: don’t think just because somebody knows how to get money — or fails to get money — that they didn’t make a contribution to the culture.”

Akademiks recently told The Breakfast Club that he would like a sit-down conversation with LL Cool J.