In what may be the first example of a participant in a rap battle running to a court for help, the rapper Drake last week filed two petitions against Universal Music Group based on his theory that it conspired to “artificially inflate” a Kendrick Lamar takedown of Drake called “Not Like Us,” which reached nearly 1 billion streams on Spotify and 179 million views on YouTube. (Universal Music, a Dutch American-owned company, has no relation to NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News and MSNBC.)
Arguably one of the biggest hits of 2024, “Not Like Us” has been nominated for five Grammys.
Arguably one of the biggest hits of 2024, “Not Like Us” has been nominated for five Grammys. Not only does Lamar attack Drake as a rapper, he also rhymes: “Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young / You bet not ever go to cell block one.” Later, referring to Drake’s 2021 album “Certified Lover Boy,” Lamar raps: “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles.”
The documents Drake and his company Frozen Moments LLC filed — one in New York Supreme Court and the other in Bexar County, Texas — are not lawsuits but petitions filed in good faith that seek information that his attorneys could use to support eventual litigation. An interesting wrinkle is that Universal is the parent company for both Drake and Lamar. But Drake is suggesting that UMG engaged in efforts to promote a song by one of its artists that damaged the reputation and earning potential of another artist signed to the same label.
In addition to accusing Universal Music Group (UMG) of engaging in a campaign to “manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, ‘Not Like Us,’ in order to make that song go viral,” Drake also says Lamar’s song attacked his character “by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.” UMG could have refused to release the song, Drake says in the Texas petition, or made Lamar edit the “offending material,” but instead, that petition says, “UMG chose to do the opposite.”
@tcrfff 🎙️Season 5 Episode 2 #yasiinbey
♬ original sound – The Cutting Room Floor
Universal Music Group told NBC News that the “suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.”
“We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear,” the statement added.
Beyond the legal implications of Drake’s allegations, there is a much more relevant point here culturally. Drake’s latest move is yet another example in a string of others that show he’s in the culture of hip-hop, but not of it. Emcees have always battled and often insulted, disrespected or defamed each other. But Drake seems not to understand that the way to handle a battle is to battle.
Drake seems not to understand that the way to handle a battle is to battle.
He previously attempted to issue a cease and desist against Future and Metro Boomin’ for “Like That,” a record that featured Lamar and arguably started the beef. Then he released (and deleted) a response record that featured AI-generated voices of Tupac and Snoop Dogg. Now he’s filed two petitions complaining about “Not Like Us.” He’s made misstep after misstep.
The undercurrent of this battle — and indeed, the very theme of the song “Not Like Us” — is that Lamar represents hip-hop culture but that Drake, one of the industry’s most popular hit makers, never has. While he has a litany of hits, Drake’s music has often been characterized as formulaic and synthetic. Authenticity is highly valued in hip-hop, but Drake has often come across as the antithesis to “keeping it real.” The fallout from Drake’s legal move has been unsurprisingly swift and visceral from fans. How does someone who was platformed by the machine call foul on the same industry that is seen as having propped him up. Further, filing court petitions is just not how the sport of emceeing operates. Plenty of emcees have engaged in battle with their peers, and the listeners — not the courts — have always served as the final arbiters of who won and who lost. Drake’s wack move further exposes him as not being hip-hop. It’s understandable that a UMG artist who feels the company has conspired against him with another UMG artist would object, but this is a lose-lose situation for “The Boy,” as Drake calls himself. In trying to weaponize the courts in a battle he had already lost miserably, Drake has made a bad situation for himself even worse. Even if he files one or more lawsuits and is ultimately victorious in court, merely seeking the court’s intervention makes him the loser in the eyes of the culture and confirms Lamar’s claim that he’s “not like us.”
Charles F. Coleman Jr.
Charles F. Coleman Jr. is a civil rights attorney and a former Brooklyn, New York, prosecutor. He is an MSNBC legal analyst. Follow him on Twitter @CFColemanJr. 
