Drake vs Kendrick: Kendrick’s Halftime Dilemma
Kendrick Lamar and Drake, considered the “Kings of the Rap Game” in their own respective genres, faced off in a fiery rap conflict last year. Following Kendrick Lamar’s line in Future's song “Like That,” Kendrick states that there’s no big three: “It's just big me.” He was responding to J. Cole’s line, “We the big three like we started a league,” in the song “First Person Shooter.” The rap event, sometimes called the “Rap Civil War,” featured side jabs from the likes of Metro Boomin, Future, Rick Ross, A$AP Rocky, and The Weeknd, each taking their own respective sides of the conflict. The conflict escalated when Kendrick dropped his response song to Drake’s “Family Matters,” named "Not Like Us." And from a poll of 28 SJHS students, 26 chose Kendrick as their winner of the Rap Beef. “In my opinion, Kendrick’s songs were better disses, while Drake’s songs were better in terms of music,” said Gavin Brocato, 10.
Following public perception of the matter cooling down, Drake issued a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), accusing the group of defamation caused by publishing and promoting Kendrick’s song “Not Like Us.” As per the 81-page lawsuit filed by Drake’s legal team, UMG chose to approve, publish, and advertise “Not Like Us” while knowing that the accusations in the song were false.
“As UMG knows and has known at all relevant times, the Recording, Image, and Video’s allegations are unequivocally false. Drake is not a pedophile,” the lawsuit stated. The lawsuit also alleges that UMG took steps to maximize the success of “Not Like Us,” further pushing the slanderous claims made about Drake. “UMG took the unprecedented step—contrary to its internal practices—to remove the Recording’s copyright restrictions on YouTube and Twitch, thereby ‘whitelisting’ the Recording to ensure content creators would republish it broadly,” the lawsuit filing, along with the allegations of boosting the song, said. It’s also alleged that UMG purposely took these steps to lower the value of Drake's contract, nearing completion, to be more favorable for themselves. As stated in the lawsuit, “UMG’s contract with Drake was nearing fulfillment, and based on information and belief, UMG anticipated that extending Drake’s contract would be costly. By devaluing Drake’s music and brand, UMG would gain leverage to force Drake to sign a new deal on terms more favorable to UMG.”
UMG has responded to the lawsuit by continuing to pledge cooperation and upholding the sentiment that there was no foul play behind the posting of the song. Rather, by launching a lawsuit, Drake is suppressing the free speech of another artist. As the lawsuit continued to boil, Kendrick Lamar performed at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. His performance featured some of his hit songs: “Squabble Up,” “HUMBLE.,” “DNA.,” and, most notably, “Not Like Us.” Kendrick threw a jab at Drake, saying, “I wanna do their favorite song, but they love to sue.” According to The New York Times, hours before the halftime performance, Drake’s team issued a comment saying, “UMG is masquerading as a champion of artistic freedom by calling its actions merely ‘entertainment,’ but there is nothing entertaining about pedophilia or child abuse in the real world.” Following the performance, many have raised concerns that Drake may use the halftime show as a means to further his lawsuit. Drake’s lawsuit already alleged that “UMG has made significant financial investments and leveraged its professional connections, via sophisticated and highly organized publicity campaigns, to arrange for the Recording to be performed at one of the most significant (and viewed) cultural events of the year—the Super Bowl.”
The possibility that Kendrick could face any more conflict from the lawsuit is extremely low. The lawsuit is aimed at UMG and their publishing and support for the success of the song. Even if the Halftime Show were to be used in the lawsuit, it's highly unlikely that it would yield any penalties toward Kendrick. Rather, if the claims can be proven that UMG leveraged their connections to get Kendrick to play "Not Like Us" at the Super Bowl, it's highly likely the company may be in deeper legal trouble. Also, it’s important to note that in terms of back-and-forth songs, the beef may be over for now. In Drake’s new album with PartyNextDoor, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, Drake said, “F*ck a rap beef, I'm tryna get the party lit.” As of now, the lawsuit remains in its initial stages. In a comment to NBC, a UMG representative said, “We have invested massively in his music, and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success."