A United States federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that Drake brought against Universal Music Group (UMG), accusing the record company of defamation over its distribution and promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, Not Like Us.
District Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed the suit after she said Lamar’s Not Like Us was a “nonactionable opinion” that is not considered defamatory.
The feud between two of hip-hop’s biggest stars erupted in the spring of 2024, with the pair trading a series of tracks that culminated in Lamar landing the “metaphorical killing blow” with his megahit that May, Vargas said in her written opinion Thursday.
“The fact that the Recording was made in the midst of a rap battle is essential to assessing its impact on a reasonable listener,” Vargas wrote. “Even apparent statements of fact may assume the character of statements of opinion … when made in public debate, heated labor dispute, or other circumstances in which an audience may anticipate the use of epithets, fiery rhetoric or hyperbole.”
While the track’s lyrics explicitly branded Drake as a pedophile, Vargas said, a reasonable listener could not have concluded that Not Like Us was conveying objective facts about the Canadian superstar.
“Although the accusation that Plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by both participants, would not incline the reasonable listener to believe that Not Like Us imparts verifiable facts about Plaintiff,” Vargas wrote.
Recapping “perhaps the most infamous rap battle in the genre’s history,” Vargas noted that before Not Like Us, Drake mocked Lamar’s height and shoe size and questioned his success in an April 2024 track called Push Ups, while Lamar insulted Drake’s fashion sense that same month in Euphoria.
From there, Vargas wrote, the insults escalated, becoming “vicious, personal.”
The judge said she considered the forum in which the insults occurred and concluded that the average listener does not think a diss track “is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public factchecked verifiable content.”
After the ruling, a spokesperson for UMG told Variety that, “From the outset, this suit was an affront to all artists and their creative expression and never should have seen the light of day. We’re pleased with the court’s dismissal and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”
Drake’s representatives told the outlet that they intend to appeal Thursday’s ruling, “and we look forward to the Court of Appeals reviewing it.”
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Not Like Us — described by Vargas as having a “catchy beat and propulsive bassline” — was one of 2024’s biggest songs.
It won record of the year and song of the year at the Grammys and helped make this year’s Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever, as fans speculated on whether Lamar would actually perform it. (He did, but with altered lyrics.)
In January, Drake filed the defamation lawsuit against UMG, the record label he and rival Lamar are both signed to.
The Toronto rapper referred to the release of Lamar’s diss track as an example of “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists,” according to the New York Times.
In his filing, Drake’s team said the diss track aimed at the Canadian rapper spreads the “false and malicious narrative” that he is a pedophile. The filing stated that Drake is “not a pedophile” and has “never engaged in any acts that would require him to be ‘placed on neighborhood watch.’”
“Drake has never engaged in sexual relations with a minor. Drake has never been charged with, or convicted of, any criminal acts whatsoever,” the suit read.
The lawsuit went on to detail a shooting at Drake’s home a few days after the song was released, resulting in a security guard being seriously injured.
“During the nearly 30 minutes it took for the ambulance to arrive, Drake and others laboured to keep the man alive by applying pressure to the gunshot wound with towels. Blood was everywhere,” the filing read.
According to the suit, nothing like that had happened to Drake or his family during the two decades that he had been working in the music industry.
The lawsuit also stated that the multiple break-in attempts on his home that happened following the release of the song were caused by UMG’s actions.
“With the palpable physical threat to Drake’s safety and the bombardment of online harassment, Drake fears for the safety and security of himself, his family, and his friends,” according to the suit.
Drake’s team made it known that the lawsuit was not directed at Lamar and clearly placed the blame on Universal for releasing, distributing and promoting the song.
“This lawsuit is not about the artist who created Not Like Us,” the suit read. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”
The feud between Drake and Lamar is among the biggest in hip-hop in recent years, with two of the genre’s biggest stars at its centre.
The two were occasional collaborators more than a decade ago, but Lamar began taking public jabs at Drake starting in 2013. The fight escalated steeply earlier last year.
— With files from The Associated Press
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