Drake Moves To Appeal Dismissal Of UMG “Not Like Us” Lawsuit

Last January, Drake filed a lawsuit in opposition to Universal Music Group (UMG) for alleged defamation and harassment. In the lawsuit, he alleged that the corporate artificially inflated the success of Kendrick Lamar‘s hit diss observe, “Not Like Us.” He alleges that in doing so, they knowingly promoted the “false and malicious” narrative that he’s an alleged predator.

In October, Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed the lawsuit, arguing that Kendrick’s lyrics cannot be thought-about defamatory as a result of listeners would not take them as truth.

“The artists’ seven-track rap battle was a ‘disagreement’ that was the topic of considerable media scrutiny and on-line discourse,” she wrote. “Although the accusation that plaintiff is a pedophile is definitely a severe one, the broader context of a heated rap battle, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by each individuals, wouldn’t incline the affordable listener to consider that ‘Not Like Us’ imparts verifiable information about plaintiff.”

Drake is not giving up, nonetheless.

Rolling Stone studies that the Toronto rapper filed a gap appellate transient yesterday (January 21) in hopes of overturning the ruling and reviving his pursuit of damages. In the transient, Drake alleges that Kendrick’s observe states that he is a “licensed pedophile” as an “unambiguous matter of truth.”

Moreover, Drake alleges that the decrease court docket created a “dangerous categorical rule” that might defend artists and their labels from defamation legal responsibility no matter how damaging their claims may be. “The court docket successfully created an unprecedented and overbroad categorical rule that statements in rap diss tracks can by no means represent statements of truth,” he alleges. UMG’s response transient is due on March 27.

News of Drake’s opening appellate transient comes amid buzz surrounding his upcoming album, ICEMAN. The undertaking does not have an official launch date on the time of writing, but it surely’s anticipated to drop someday within the very close to future.