From Rap Beef to Legal Battle
Drake’s lawsuit against UMG over Kendrick Lamar’s "Not Like Us" raises key legal issues such as defamation, streaming fraud, and the industry’s role in rap beef. As UMG moves to dismiss, the case highlights the ongoing debate over rap lyrics as evidence and the intersection of hip-hop and the law.
Rap music continues to be a focal point of litigation for causes of action centered around disputes emerging from the content of its lyrics. “Not Like Us,” by Kendrick Lamar, surpassed one billion Spotify streams since its release in May 2024. The song marked the climax of the Drake – Kendrick Lamar feud, which has no clear conclusion in sight. In January, Drake claimed in his 81-page complaint that Universal Music Group Recordings (UMG) - the record label for both Drake and Kendrick Lamar - published and promoted Lamar’s defamatory material that resulted in violence and vandalism to him and his property. He also claims that UMG artificially boosted Lamar’s streams using bots and bribes to increase the record’s popularity, ultimately resulting in its Grammy nomination sweep and performance at the Super Bowl LIX halftime show. This week, UMG filed its motion to dismiss in response to Drake’s complaint.
UMG’s motion to dismiss relies on Drake’s failure to state a claim for defamation, “Harassment in the Second Degree”, or violations of a New York business law statute by incentivizing third parties to promote the recording. Rap music and its role in criminal charges and tort liability is an ongoing discussion - whether as a tool of evidence or as a right to First Amendment protection. Rap lyrics will fall under First Amendment protection unless they amount to a legitimate threat. After crossing that threshold, they can be considered relevant evidence. This type of evidence is typically relevant during criminal cases as bad character evidence or to show that did in fact commit the crimes that the song details.
The challenge Drake brings against UMG amounts to more than using the lyrics in the song as evidence of a crime the person committed. Drake contends that Kendrick Lamar defamed his person, resulting in violence and slander against him. However, the main issue is whether UMG aided in the popularization of that message. Rap lyrics are disproportionately used more than other genres of music. Additionally, using these lyrics as evidence disproportionately affects communities that are overpoliced and over-criminalized. The movement to ban rap lyrics as evidence depends on the overwhelming effect the evidence has on criminal charges. Drake demonstrates a different way rap beef might infiltrate courts as a method to attack the profit of their record labels.
Drake contends that the record label improperly financially gained from the ongoing feud between him and Lamar, using the inflammatory and provocative lyrics as evidence of UMG’s misappropriation. Drake’s complaint details instances of UMG promoting the record on social media platforms and allegedly whitelisting the song to allow other creators to use the record without copyright infringement. If this case moves forward, this will mark an unforeseen consequence for record labels that benefit from the artistry of marginalized communities.
