A federal decide is pondering the character of rap battles and the reducing wordplay in Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” the megahit diss observe that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow celebrity Drake.
Drake sued Common Music Group — each his and Lamar’s document label — over “Not Like Us,” saying the corporate revealed and promoted a track he deems slanderous. Common says the lyrics are simply hyperbole within the custom of rap beefing, and the label is making an attempt to get the case dismissed.
U.S. District Decide Jeannette Vargas did not instantly determine after a energetic listening to in New York on Monday, when the uncooked creativity of hip-hop brushed up in opposition to the staid confines of federal court docket.
“Who’s the bizarre listener? Is it somebody who’s going to catch all these references?” Vargas questioned aloud, addressing a authorized customary that issues how a mean, affordable individual would perceive a press release. “There’s a lot specialised and nuanced to those lyrics.”
Neither artist attended the listening to.
The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop’s largest stars over considered one of 2024 largest songs — the one which received the document of the yr and track of the yr Grammys, acquired essentially the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make this winter’s Tremendous Bowl halftime present essentially the most watched ever.
Launched as the 2 artists have been buying and selling a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar’s track calls out the Canadian-born Drake by title and impugns his authenticity, branding him “a colonizer” of rap tradition who’s “not like us” in Lamar’s house turf of Compton, California, and, extra broadly, West Coast rap.
“Not Like Us” additionally makes insinuations about Drake’s intercourse life, together with “I hear you want ’em younger” — implications that he rejects.
Drake’s go well with says that the track quantities to “falsely accusing him of being a intercourse offender, partaking in pedophilic acts” and extra. Contending that the observe endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the go well with blames “Not Like Us” not just for harming Drake’s picture however for tried break-ins and the taking pictures of a safety guard at his Toronto house. The mansion was depicted in an aerial photograph within the track’s cowl artwork.
“This track achieved a cultural ubiquity not like some other rap track in historical past,” Drake lawyer Michael Gottlieb mentioned. He argued that Common had campaigned and contrived to make it “a de facto nationwide anthem” that did not simply tackle hip-hop followers who knew the backstory and have been accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling.
The common listener may very well be “a 13-year-old who’s dancing to the track at a bar mitzvah,” Gottlieb urged.
“That may be a really attention-grabbing bar mitzvah,” the decide opined. (The track has certainly been performed at some such celebrations.)
Common, in the meantime, has emphasised that “Not Like Us” was a part of an change of barbs between Drake and Lamar.
“Context is essential,” label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued Monday, at one level apologizing for having to make use of profanity whereas reciting a number of the lyrics Drake aimed toward Lamar in a observe known as “Taylor Made Freestyle.”
“What you hear in these rap battles is trash-talking within the excessive, and it’s not, and shouldn’t be handled as, statements of truth,” the legal professional mentioned.
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Drake additionally went after iHeartMedia, claiming in a Texas authorized petition that the radio large acquired unlawful funds from Common to spice up airplay for “Not Like Us.” IHeartMedia has denied any wrongdoing. That dispute was resolved in March.
Drake hasn’t sued Lamar himself.
