This past Super Bowl Sunday, Kendrick Lamar performed at the halftime show. Prior to his performance, a highly anticipated question was whether Kendrick would perform his song, “They Not Like Us,” the brutal diss track about his rap rival, Drake.[1] A few minutes into the halftime show, Kendrick stated, “I want to play their favourite song... but you know they love to sue.”[2] Kendrick eventually did perform the song, giving the audience exactly what they wanted. When Kendrick looked into the camera with a mischievous grin and rapped the famous lyric, “Tryin' to strike a chord and it's probably A minor,” the crowd echoed in unison, showcasing the song’s popularity.[3]
So why would Kendrick be worried about a lawsuit? Well, that’s because Drake did indeed file a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on January 15, 2025, against Universal Music Group (“UMG”), alleging the song defamed him, and that UMG spread a “false and malicious narrative” by promoting Kendrick’s diss track.[4] Interestingly, Drake and Kendrick are both signed by UMG, but they are under different divisions, with Drake being under Republic Records and Kendrick being under Interscope.[5] Notably, however, although the lawsuit seemingly stems from Kendrick’s song, he was not a named party to the lawsuit.[6]
The complaint alleged several things, such as UMG offering financial incentives to third parties to stream the song, removing copyright restrictions to encourage creators to use the song, using bots to boost the song, and more.[7] A spokesperson for UMG said the allegations are untrue and that any accusation of UMG trying to hurt Drake’s reputation is illogical. In addition to the allegations against UMG, Drake also named iHeartMedia, alleging that they received illegal payments from UMG to boost the song.[8] However, Drake and iHeartMedia settled their legal dispute on February 27, 2025.[9] Drake’s legal team released a statement, “We are pleased that the parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to both sides, and have no further comment on this matter.”[10]
What’s next? UMG is preparing to file a motion to dismiss rapper Drake’s defamation lawsuit against UMG.[11] However, the court recently ruled that the case can move forward to discovery.[12] On March 4, 2025, a federal judge in New York denied UMG’s request to adjourn a pre-trial conference scheduled for April 2, 2025, which would officially begin the discovery process.[13] The judge stated, “It is not the practice of this court to routinely stay discovery pending the outcome of a motion to dismiss.”[14] Only time will tell how this legal battle unfolds, but one thing is certain—this high-profile feud is far from over.
[1] Mark Savage, Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl Show Was One Big Tease, bbc (Feb. 9, 2025), https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz0l5m5m943o.
[2] Id.
[3] Id.
[4] Minyvonne Burke & Sophia Pargas, Drake Files Federal Lawsuit Accusing UMG of Defamation Over Promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s 'Not Like Us, nbc news (Jan. 15, 2025), https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/drake-files-federal-lawsuit-umg-defamation-promotion-kendrick-lamars-n-rcna187790.
[5] Id
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] Juan A. Lozano, iHeartMedia Says Legal Dispute with Drake Was Settled Because it ‘Did Nothing Wrong’, ap news, (Mar. 4, 2025), https://apnews.com/article/drake-kendrick-lamar-iheartmedia-settlement-29c4cd246cd7a0072d9a8829bfd75c83.
[9] Nancy Dillion, Drake Settles with iHeartMedia Amid ‘Not Like Us’ Payola Probe, (Mar. 3, 2025), RollingStone,
[10] Id.
[11] Daniel Tencer, Drake’s Lawsuit Over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ to Go Forward as UMG Prepares Motion to Dismiss, music business worldwide, (Mar. 6, 2024), https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/drakes-lawsuit-over-kendrick-lamars-not-like-us-to-go-forward-as-umg-prepares-motion-to-dismiss/.
[12] Id.
[13] Id.
[14] Id.
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