Drake lost another battle in his rap beef with Kendrick Lamar when a federal judge on Thursday dismissed the Canadian artist’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group NV over Lamar’s mega-hit “Not Like Us.”
Listeners can’t reasonably expect the diss track’s core accusation that Drake, whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, is a “certified pedophile” to be “accurate factual reporting,” said Judge Jeannette A. Vargas of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
“‘Not Like Us’ is replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion,” Vargas wrote.
The May 2024 song “dealt the killing blow” in an eight-track feud between the two artists, Vargas wrote. It broke streaming records, won Record of the Year at the Grammys, and helped propel Lamar into a highly watched Super Bowl Halftime Show performance.
Still, Vargas rejected arguments from Drake’s counsel to consider the song in isolation due to its “cultural ubiquity.”
It must be considered in the context of the feud, she said, adding the “pedophile” references are likely callbacks to a prior Drake-released jab in which an AI-generated voice that sounds like late rapper 2Pac urges Lamar to “talk about him likin’ young girls.”
“Whether publications constitute actionable fact or protected opinion cannot vary based upon the popularity they achieve,” Vargas said.
Drake in a January defamation lawsuit accused Universal Music of endangering him by releasing and promoting the Lamar track, which he said spurred violence at his home in Toronto. Universal has represented Drake for a decade.
New York doesn’t have a civil harassment cause of action, nor a private right of action to bring a criminal harassment claim, Vargas said.
And Drake failed to claim that UMG’s alleged deception in promoting Lamar’s track caused any harm to consumers. His allegations that UMG paid to boost “Not Like Us” appear based on internet speculation and reports from fans, the judge said.
The case is Graham v. UMG Recordings, Inc., S.D.N.Y., No. 1:25-cv-00399, 10/9/25.
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