It's the Black English Vernacular (formerly Ebonics).
Correctness in language is a matter of custom, not logic. Not only does
"aks" get the pass for common enough usage, it's also a shorter more
distinct sound than the aspirant "ask". Paul Mooney said the black man
is the most imitated man, and he's right. Every culture exhibits its own
linguistic rhythms, and at the risk of being labeled a reverse racist, I
find the cadence and trills of the Black English Vernacular the most hypnotic.
If you are interested, listen to some McWhorter lectures on linguistics—he will explain why this happens and how it remains part of a dialect or language. Many word spellings or pronunciations that are part of “proper” English started out as “poor” pronunciation or spelling 150-200 years ago.
Growing up as a Midwesterner, I took great pride in the fact that our regional dialect didn't tend to smear vowels around like those in some of the dirty South states did.
Then I got out in the real world and discovered all the weird shit we Midwesterners say really does make us sound like rednecks after all, just a different shade.
Correctness in language is a matter of custom, not logic. Not only does "aks" get the pass for common enough usage, it's also a shorter more distinct sound than the aspirant "ask". Paul Mooney said the black man is the most imitated man, and he's right. Every culture exhibits its own linguistic rhythms, and at the risk of being labeled a reverse racist, I find the cadence and trills of the Black English Vernacular the most hypnotic.