November 25, 2025

Kendrick v. Drake: Kendrick Prevails Again

By Emily Poler

I suppose, in some way, you have to admire rapper Drake’s tenacity in pursuing his defamation lawsuit against media giant UMG Recordings, Inc., which has kept his nemesis Kendrick Lamar’s accusations of Drake being a pedophile in the public eye a year after most people have forgotten about it. Clearly he’s putting what he perceives as justice over his public image. Plus, it’s making for some interesting legal analysis, as evidenced by the recent decision in the case. As a result, I get to once again write about hip-hop diss tracks in a semi-academic tone. I love my life!

You can go back and read my prior post about the case here, but for a quick summary, between April 19, 2024 and May 5, 2024, Aubrey Drake (“Drake”) and Kendrick Lamar (“Kendrick”) dropped a combined nine diss tracks directed at each other. (Diss track: “A hip hop or rap recording intended to disparage or attack another person or group.”) In this robust exchange of ideas, Drake mocked Kendrick’s height (he’s about 5’5”; Drake claims to be six foot) and implied that Kendrick physically abused his partner. In return, Kendrick accused Drake of being a deadbeat dad, among other malefactions such as having his prominent abs manufactured through plastic surgery.

Most notably, however, in “Not Like Us,” the penultimate track (and biggest hit) in this musical back-and-forth, Kendrick rapped, “Drake, I hear you like ‘em young,” “tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor,” “Certified lover boy? Certified pedophile,” and “your homeboy needs subpoena, that predator move in flocks. That name gotta be registered and placed on neighborhood watch.” 

These lyrics formed the basis for Drake’s complaint against UMG — Drake and Kendrick’s record label — which alleged that UMG intentionally published and promoted “Not Like Us” knowing that the song implied Drake was a pedophile, and that this accusation was false and defamatory. 

UMG moved to dismiss the defamation claims on grounds that “Not Like Us” did not convey, as a factual matter, that Drake had sex with minors. Last month, U.S. District Court Judge Jeannette Vargas ruled the statements at issue in “Not Like Us” were non-actionable opinions and, in keeping with my earlier prediction, dismissed Drake’s complaint.

How did the Court reach this conclusion? By way of background, the law says only factual statements — not opinion — can serve as a basis for a defamation claim. And it’s the courts that decide whether a statement is one of fact or opinion by evaluating how a person hearing the statement might perceive it. In making that determination, courts consider: (1) whether the statement has a precise meaning; (2) whether a statement can be proven true or false (opinion cannot be proven true or false); and (3) whether the context in which the statement is made signals it as opinion or fact. 

In this case, the issue is whether Kendrick’s lyrics in “Not Like Us” conveyed a false factual statement that Drake is a pedophile. 

On the third point above, Drake argued that Kendrick’s statements should be viewed in isolation, and not in the context of a song. The Court rejected this, instead focusing on where the statements were made, the statements’ purpose, and the language and tone of the statements. The Court concluded, presumably rather easily, that Kendrick’s statements were made in a diss track, writing “[t]he 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.” 

Which is a rather fancy way of saying, SRSLY? 

The Court also noted that the statements, which were part of an exchange of diss tracks, had to be considered in that context. Here, that means a reasonable person would understand the statements at issue were made in a heated dispute or a war of words to be opinion and, therefore, such statements could not be defamatory. In this context, an audience would expect hyperbole, not factual assertions. (This seems particularly true as in an earlier track, Drake challenged Kendrick to accuse him of being a pedophile.) 

Drake, however, argued that the Court should ignore the overall battle context and analyze “Not Like Us” on its own, claiming that since “Not like Us” was by far the most popular song in the melee, the average listener wouldn’t be familiar with the whole back and forth and thus wouldn’t view its statements as part of a heated dispute. The Court rejected this argument, finding the statements must be viewed in context because all the songs are in conversation with one another. The Court also noted that “Not Like Us” became a massive hit because of the feud, and the extensive reporting about the conflict would have alerted listeners to the context of the statements. 

What’s more, the Court found that the tone and language in “Not Like Us” reinforced the conclusion that it is non-actionable opinion, writing that the track is “replete with profanity, trash talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion.”

In other words, it’s a rap battle, dammit, not journalism.

Drake, unwilling to put this thing to bed and let everyone forget about it, has filed a notice of appeal. The battle rages, or at least sputters, on.