Drake is once more strolling away holding an L(oss) from a battle involving Kendrick Lamar. On Thursday (October 9), a decide dismissed the defamation lawsuit Drizzy filed in opposition to Common Music Group (UMG) over the hit track, ‘Not Like Us.’ The federal official dominated that Kenny’s lyrics had been opinion, per the Related Press. Whereas Drake hasn’t spoken out but, others concerned in making the monitor, together with Mustard, seemingly have!
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Decide Explains Why She Tossed Drake’s Lawsuit Towards UMG
As beforehand reported, Drake’s and Kendrick Lamar’s rap beef exploded within the spring of 2024. The superstars traded pictures from the sales space earlier than Lamar put a nail in Drizzy’s metaphorical coffin with ‘Not Like Us’ in Might. The track turned a cultural phenomenon and ate the charts up—identical power for the music video he launched in July. Even celebrities as soon as tight with Drake, similar to LeBron James, picked sides. And, spoiler alert, it usually wasn’t the Canadian rapper’s!
‘Not Like Us,’ which calls out Drake by identify, assaults him as “a colonizer” of rap tradition. It additionally makes critical allegations about his intercourse life, together with “I hear you want ’em younger” — a declare Drake has rejected. This week, Decide Jeannette A. Vargas acknowledged in her written opinion that ‘Not Like Us’ explicitly branded Drake as a pedophile. Nevertheless, Vargas stated an inexpensive listener couldn’t have concluded that the track revealed goal details about Drake.
“Though the accusation that Plaintiff is a pedophile is actually a critical one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by each contributors, wouldn’t incline the affordable listener to consider that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable details about Plaintiff,” Decide Vargas wrote.
The mansion was depicted in an aerial photograph within the track’s cowl artwork, with what Vargas described as “an overlay of greater than a dozen intercourse offender markers” — which, she stated, was “clearly exaggerated and doctored.”
“No affordable individual would view the Picture and consider that the truth is regulation enforcement had designated 13 residents in Drake’s residence as intercourse offenders,” she wrote.
Recapping “maybe probably the most notorious rap battle within the style’s historical past,” Vargas famous that previous to “Not Like Us,” Drake mocked Lamar’s peak and shoe dimension and questioned his success in an April 2024 monitor referred to as “Push Ups,” whereas Lamar insulted Drake’s vogue sense that very same month in “Euphoria.”
From there, Vargas wrote, the insults escalated, changing into “vicious, private.”
The decide stated she thought of the discussion board by which the insults occurred and concluded that the typical listener doesn’t assume a dis monitor “is the product of a considerate or disinterested investigation, conveying to the general public factchecked verifiable content material.”
Vargas wrote that “Not Like Us” was “replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language, all of that are indicia of opinion.”
An affordable listener, she added, “would conclude that Lamar is rapping hyperbolic vituperations.”
Drake’s Crew & UMG Reacts To Lawsuit Dismissal
After the choice Drake’s authorized group stated in an announcement: “We intend to attraction right this moment’s ruling, and we stay up for the Court docket of Appeals reviewing it.”
For context, Drizzy filed the lawsuit in January. It doesn’t identify Kendrick Lamar. As an alternative, the paperwork alleges Common Music Group (UMG) deliberately revealed and promoted ‘Not Like Us,’ regardless of figuring out the lyrics contained false and defamatory allegations. The lawsuit claims the track tousled his fame and decreased the worth of his model. Moreover, Drake alleged that the track encourages listeners to make use of vigilante justice in opposition to him. He even blamed ‘Not Like Us’ for tried break-ins and the capturing of a safety guard at his Toronto residence.
UMG instantly denied the allegations. Curiously, Common Music Group is the mother or father document label for each Drake and Kendrick Lamar. It launched an announcement following the lawsuit dismissal.
“From the outset, this go well with was an affront to all artists and their artistic expression and by no means ought to have seen the sunshine of day,” UMG stated. “We’re happy with the courtroom’s dismissal and stay up for persevering with our work efficiently selling Drake’s music and investing in his profession.”
What To Know About ‘Not Like Us’
It’s no debate that ‘Not Like Us’ was considered one of 2024’s greatest songs. Even Decide Vargas described it as having a “catchy beat and propulsive bassline.”
Kendrick Lamar’s diss received document of the 12 months and track of the 12 months on the Grammys. It additionally helped make this 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl halftime present the most-watched ever, as followers speculated whether or not Lamar would truly carry out it. He did, however with altered lyrics and the acknowledgment of the UMG lawsuit.
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Related Press writers Larry Neumeister, Andrew Dalton and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report through AP Newsroom.
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