Just as many were thinking Drake and his feud with Kendrick Lamar was finally dying down, reports claim he has sued his record label over Lamar’s hit diss track which tags him a pedophile. The song Drake is referring to is “Not Like Us,” part of an intense back-and-forth between him and Lamar.
On the track, Lamar accused Drake and his entourage of being “certified pedophiles” who should “be registered and placed on neighborhood watch.” Drake seemed to take it in stride back then and denied it the next day.
“I never been with no one under age,” he rapped in a track titled “The Heart Part 6.” He also alluded to purposefully feeding Lamar false information in hopes he’d use it as material. The lawsuit has shown that Drake was not so chummy about it. Or he simply could not ignore it given how viral the track went.
Drake’s lawsuits have made the news, with fans even making it a meme, here’s all we know about the rapper’s lawsuits.
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Why Is Drake Suing Kendrick Lamar?
In legal papers filed in New York, Drake’s lawyers accused the record label of deliberating making a viral hit out of “Not Like Us.” This, they claim, was done even though the song made a “false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile.”
The move comes 24 hours after Drake withdrew a separate legal action against UMG and Spotify. It saw him accuse both companies of conspiring to artificially boost streams of “Not Like Us,” at the expense of his music.
His argument in that case was that Universal had licensed the song “at drastically reduced rates to Spotify.” He also alleged that they used bots to generate extra plays, giving “the false impression that the song was more popular than it was in reality.”
Universal responded at the time. “The suggestion that [the company] would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” it said. Spotify also echoed similar sentiments in its response saying that there was “no economic incentive for users to stream Not Like Us over any of Drake’s tracks”.
The Swedish streaming company later filed an opposition brief to Drake’s petition, stating that it “should be denied.” His lawyers withdrew the case on Tuesday, after meeting with representatives from both companies, but Drake was clearly not done.
Drake’s New Claims
In a lawsuit filed at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Drake accused Universal of not caring about the “well-being of its artists,” tagging it a function of corporate greed. The group handles the distribution of both his music and Lamar’s.
His lawyers highlighted how the artwork for “Not Like Us” was based on an aerial photograph of Drake’s Toronto mansion, dotted with red markers. Those markers are often used to represent the presence of registered sex offenders.
The court documents imply that the artwork was what facilitated a shooting at the property shortly after the release of the song, calling it “the 2024 equivalent of ‘Pizzagate.'” The comment refers to a conspiracy theory involving a US child sex ring operating out of a Washington pizza restaurant. It ended when a gunman opened fire on the eaterie in 2016.
Drake vs Kendrick: Who Won?
If the latest lawsuit Drake and his legal team have filed has anything to say about it, Drake did not win. And the feud is far from over, it has only taken on a different dimension. Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was famously regarded as the decisive blow in the long-running feud between Drake and Lamar, which can be traced back to the early 2010s.
With catchy lyrics, Lamar made various allegations that seem to continue to irk Drake. Drake responded with a track called “The Heart Part 6,” in which he rejected the allegations. However, it did not attract the same clout as “Not Like Us,” which debuted at the top of the US chart.
It doesn’t help matters that the track is nominated for five prizes, including record and song of the year, at the Grammy Awards. Or that the viral success has led to Lamar getting the chance to headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
Amidst all the drama, it is crucial to note that the new lawsuit is not targeting Lamar himself. “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,” they’ve said.
What Started the Drake and Kendrick Lamar Beef?
Drake and Kendrick Lamar reportedly started beefing as far back as the 2010s. But it was not until 2024 that Lamar let things go crazy. The pair reportedly used to have a friendly relationship that even saw them collaborating multiple times between 2011 and 2012.
Things seemed to change in 2013 after Lamar was featured on Big Sean’s song, “Control.” On it, he called out Drake and many other rappers, including Pusha T, Mac Miller, and A$AP Rocky. “I got love for you all, but I’m tryna murder you,” Lamar rapped, adding he’s “tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you.”
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Since then, the two have taken subtle shots at one another in their music over the years. Observers of Lamar and Drake’s beef believe the feud is over who could be considered the greatest rapper of today. Never mind that the two clearly have different strengths and claims to the title of “greatest” rapper.
Lamar is famous for his critically acclaimed work, which has won him 17 Grammy Awards and a Pulitzer Prize. On the other hand, Drake is more commercially successful. He was the most-streamed artist of the 2010s on Spotify. He also has the most certified digital singles of any artist, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.
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