Drake has filed an appeal following the dismissal of his lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar’s hit single “Not Like Us,” according to ABC News.
Three weeks after U.S. District Judge Jeannette Vargas threw out the case in the Southern District of New York, court reporter Matthew Russell Lee confirmed that an appeal was filed on Wednesday (October 29).
Earlier this year, before Kendrick’s Super Bowl LIX performance of “Not Like Us,” Drake sued UMG, claiming the label and the 22-time Grammy winner conspired to damage his reputation. The rapper alleged that Kendrick defamed him through the song’s lyrics, which hinted at him grooming minors.
“Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles,” Kendrick rapped on the track, which went on to dominate the Billboard Hot 100 for 22 straight weeks. “Why you trollin’ like a bitch? Ain’t you tired? Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.”
In the lawsuit, Drake’s legal team argued that “Not Like Us” “advance[s] the false and malicious narrative that Drake is a pedophile.” The five-time Grammy winner also accused Kendrick of second-degree harassment, pointing to the lyric: “Want action, no accident, and I’m hands-on, He fuck around, get polished.”
The suit claimed that these “specific and unequivocal threats of violence [have] placed [Drake] in a reasonable fear of physical harm.”
However, Judge Jeannette Vargas disagreed, ruling that the lyrics weren’t factual statements but rather artistic expression typical of battle rap.
The song dropped last May amid an intense back-and-forth between Drake and Kendrick, who had been trading diss tracks for weeks.
“‘Not Like Us’ is replete with profanity, trash-talking, threats of violence, and figurative and hyperbolic language, all of which are indicia of opinion,” Judge Vargas wrote.
Before Kendrick delivered his final blow, Drake dropped his own diss tracks — “Family Matters,” “Push Ups,” and “Taylor Made Freestyle” — the latter of which sparked legal issues with 2Pac’s estate.
