Drake took a significant authorized blow Thursday (October 9), when a federal decide tossed his defamation lawsuit towards Universal music Group, ruling that Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping diss monitor “Not Like Us” was protected opinion reasonably than a factual assault.

U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas concluded that the Grammy Award-winning music couldn’t fairly be interpreted as stating verifiable details.

“A reasonable listener could not have concluded that ‘Not Like Us’ was conveying objective facts about Drake,” she wrote in her determination.

The Toronto rap star filed the criticism earlier this yr, accusing UMG of damaging his fame by distributing and selling the music regardless of figuring out it contained false claims. In the lawsuit, he alleged the corporate made undisclosed funds and supplied discounted licensing offers to assist the monitor acquire traction whereas he was in the midst of contract talks.

The authorized combat got here amid one of the vital intense lyrical battles in Hip-Hop historical past, with Kendrick Lamar and Drake buying and selling more and more private diss tracks over a number of months.

The back-and-forth started in October 2023, when Drake and J. Cole dubbed themselves the “big three” alongside Lamar on “First Person Shooter.”

Kendrick Lamar fired again in March 2024 on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That,” rejecting the trio label and declaring “it’s just big me.”

Drake responded in April with “Push Ups,” taking jabs at Lamar’s top and enterprise offers. Days later, he dropped “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which controversially used AI-generated voices of Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg.

Kendrick Lamar escalated the feud with “euphoria” in late April, calling Drake a “scam artist” and “pathetic master manipulator.”

The battle intensified with Lamar’s “6:16 in LA” and Drake’s “Family Matters,” which included allegations of home violence.

Then got here probably the most explosive tracks. On May 3 and 4, Lamar launched “Meet the Grahams” and “Not Like Us,” each of which leveled critical accusations about Drake’s alleged conduct with minors.

Drake hit again with “The Heart Part 6” on May 5, however many within the Hip-Hop world noticed Lamar because the clear victor within the lyrical warfare. Critics questioned why Drake selected to sue over lyrics, a transfer many felt clashed with the style’s long-standing custom of lyrical warfare.

Many argued that pursuing authorized motion over a diss monitor might threaten inventive freedom in Hip-Hop, the place hyperbole and private assaults have lengthy been a part of the artwork kind. Judge Vargas addressed that context immediately in her ruling.

“The average listener is not under the impression that a diss track is the product of a thoughtful or disinterested investigation, conveying to the public fact-checked verifiable content,” she wrote.

She additionally famous that the music’s language—crammed with insults, exaggeration and profanity—signaled it was opinion-based reasonably than factual.

Neither Drake nor UMG supplied public remark following the ruling.

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