Judge sues UMG for ‘not like us’

Drake Once again he walks away holding L(oss) from a fight involving… Kendrick Lamar. On Thursday (October 9), a judge dismissed Drizzy’s defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over the hit song “Not Like Us.” The federal official ruled that Kenney’s words were merely his opinion, According to the Associated Press. While drake has yet to speak publicly, others have been involved in the making of the track, including Mustardapparently!

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Judge explains why Drake filed lawsuit against UMG

As previously reported, rapping between Drake and Kendrick Lamar blew up in the spring of 2024. The stars traded shots from the booth before Lamar put the nail in Drizzy’s metaphorical coffin with “Not Like Us” in May. The song became a cultural phenomenon and topped the charts, the same energy that the music video he released in July showed. Even celebrities who had a close relationship with Drake, such as LeBron James, Selected aspects. And spoiler alert, it probably wasn’t a Canadian rapper!

“Not Like Us,” which calls out Drake by name, attacks him as a “colonizer” of rap culture. She also makes serious allegations about his sexuality, including… “I hear you like them young.” – a claim that Drake rejected. this week, Judge Janet A. Vargas She acknowledged in her written opinion that “Not Like Us” explicitly described Drake as a pedophile. However, Vargas said a reasonable listener cannot conclude that the song reveals objective truths about Drake.

“Although the accusation that Plaintiff is a homosexual is certainly a serious accusation, the broader context of the heated rap battle, with the inflammatory language and offensive accusations made by both participants, would not lead a reasonable listener to believe that the song ‘Not Like Us’ conveys verifiable facts about Plaintiff,” Judge Vargas wrote.

The mansion is depicted in an aerial photo in the song’s cover, with what Vargas described as “an overlay of more than a dozen signs of sex offenders” — which, she said, are “clearly exaggerated and manipulated.”

“No reasonable person would see the photo and believe that law enforcement had in fact identified thirteen residents of the Drake House as sex offenders,” she wrote.

In summarizing “perhaps the most famous rap battle in the history of the genre,” Vargas noted that prior to “Not Like Us,” Drake mocked Lamar’s height, shoe size and questioned his success in an April 2024 song titled “Push Ups,” while Lamar insulted Drake’s fashion sense that same month in the song “Euphoria.”
From there, Vargas wrote, the insults escalated, becoming “vicious, personal.”

The judge said she had considered the forum in which the insults occurred and concluded that the average listener would not believe the audio clip “is the product of deliberate or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public verifiable content.”

“Not Like Us” was “full of profanity, trash talk, threats of violence, and figurative and exaggerated language, all indicators of opinion,” Vargas wrote.
She added that a reasonable listener “would conclude that Lamar is singing exaggerated expletives.”

Drake and UMG react to lawsuit dismissal

Following the decision, Drake’s legal team said in a statement: “We intend to appeal today’s ruling, and look forward to its review by the Court of Appeals.”

For context, Drizzy filed the lawsuit in January. Kendrick Lamar’s name was not mentioned. Instead, the papers allege that Universal Music Group (UMG) intentionally published and promoted “Not Like Us,” despite knowing that the lyrics contained false and defamatory claims. The lawsuit claims that the song ruined his reputation and diminished the value of his brand. Additionally, Drake claimed that the song encourages listeners to use vigilante justice against him. He even blamed Not Like Us for the break-in attempts and Shooting a security guard At his home in Toronto.

UMG immediately denied the allegations. Interestingly, Universal Music Group is the parent record company of both Drake and Kendrick Lamar. She issued a statement after the lawsuit was dismissed.

“From the beginning, this lawsuit has been an insult to all artists and their creative expression and should never have seen the light of day,” UMG said. “We are pleased with the court’s decision and look forward to continuing our work successfully promoting Drake’s music and investing in his career.”

What do you know about “Not Like Us”

There’s no question that “Not Like Us” was one of the biggest songs of 2024. Even Judge Vargas described it as having… “A catchy beat and a driving bass line.”

Kendrick Lamar’s song won Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the Grammy Awards. He also helped make this year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show The most watched song of all time, with fans speculating whether Lamar would actually perform it. He did so, but changing the words and acknowledging the UMG lawsuit.

Related to: Goodbye king! Drake ditches his LeBron James tattoo for a new tribute to the Canadian basketball player (photo)

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Associated Press writers Larry Neumeister, Andrew Dalton and Jennifer Peltz contributed to this report via the AP Newsroom.