So, I’m mentioned in the Drake lawsuit...
A quick reminder of context clues and media literacy.
ICYMI, Drake is suing his label. Again. This time, The Boy is accusing his parent company, Universal Music Group, aka UMG, for defamation over the promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s song “Not Like Us.” In the 91-page complaint filed Jan. 15, lawyers for Aubrey Graham allege the promotion of the track, which accuses the Canadian star of being a pedophile and child groomer, and its music video were defamatory acts that put his reputation, life and livelihood at risk.
"The recording cloaks cleverly dangerous lyrics behind a catchy beat and inviting hook. Capitalizing on those attributes, UMG used every tool at its disposal to ensure that the world would hear that Drake "like 'em young,'" the lawsuit reads.
The filing describes attempted home invasions at Drake’s Toronto compound as a result of the diss track accusations. His lawyers also claim that UMG removed copyright restrictions on the song and video so it would circulate online faster. The document goes on to cite a slew of TikToks, X posts and YouTube videos that speculate the rapper is a predator as a result of the song. It includes screenshots of popular YouTubers like Kai Cenat and RDC reacting to “Not Like Us” favorably in furtherance of the defamation claim. (Mind you, it was Drake who was texting Kai to livestream his reactions to songs that he dropped during the beef, but I digress.)
The filing shows a photo of a flyer that was posted around Drake’s neighborhood calling him a predator and claims the musician had to pull his son, Adonis, out of school for fear of his safety and later relocate the child out of Canada.
UMG responded to the lawsuit late last night saying the claims were “illogical” and “untrue.” While Drizzy is suing for an undisclosed amount, the legal action has brought up a lot of questions in the culture like:
Does this lawsuit re-write the rules of rap beef?
Why isn’t Drake suing Kendrick for defamation, too?
Is “Not Like Us” considered defamation? Aren’t all diss tracks defamatory in nature?
When it comes to the claims about this song damaging Drake’s brand, I am not a lawyer but…I meannn, they have a point. The ripple effect of this song was huge. “Certified lover boy? / Certified pedophile,” rang off crazy at every function last summer. Hip-hop fan or not, “Not Like Us” was one of the biggest songs of 2024. Since then, Drake’s reputation has taken a hit. Beyond the beef, the diss track took on a life of its own, becoming a West Coast anthem and drawing a distinct line in the sand: Drake vs. everybody. As of right now, that line’s still carved. Drake’s singles post-beef are definitely in rotation, but haven’t performed nearly as well as is expected from someone at his level. Kenny on the other hand, dropped gnx, which became the fastest rap album of 2024 to reach a billi streams. Looking ahead into this year, “Not Like Us” is nominated for five Grammy awards and Kendrick’s set to headline the 2025 Super Bowl. That means we’re more than likely about to watch him perform “Not Like Us” at the biggest televised sporting event of the year.
Now, for my part in it. Because it's part of my job, I read through the whole UMG lawsuit. It’s a lot. Consider the graphs above your SparkNotes summary of the 91 pages. But just like SparkNotes, some things do get lost in translation and in this case, someone’s trying to put my name in the mess.
As a working journalist and culture critic, I’ve been named in wikipedia pages, grad papers, newsletters, articles etc etc etc over the years. Some work I’ve done has been cited in legal documents before, too. But this name drop is a little different. One of the pieces of media cited in the lawsuit as evidence that UMG pushed a defamatory message (i.e. the song) is a podcast episode of NPR’s It’s Been a Minute I participated in back in May 2024. In the midst of the Kendrick-Drake rap beef, I appeared on the show with host Brittany Luse and writer Tirhakah Love to analyze the lyrical barrage. In the court docs filed, my quotes from the show are mischaracterized. The suit states that I insinuated that the allegations in “Not Like Us” could be true because of “so much dirt that’s been unearthed.” That “unearthed” line is a pull quote from my description about the totality of the beef. The whole 47 minutes, not just “Not Like Us.” The overall point of the episode was to highlight how mudslinging that went on in this beef was largely at the cost of women and girls who were used as pawns for each rappers’ punchlines. In the ep, we even get into how lyrics should not be used to make a criminal court case against someone (I mention Young Thug’s YSL trial as another hip-hop example of putting lyrics on trial) but that the media has a duty to seriously pay attention to accusations like pedophilia – and in Kendrick’s case, domestic violence – and not just laugh them off because the song has a fire beat and flow. The court documents present my YSL trial example as if I’m saying the lyrics of “Not Like Us” could/should spark investigation into Drake.
Listening back to the IBAM ep last night after a few friends texted me about being mentioned in the suit, it’s lowkey one of the best pieces of audio criticism I got to take part in last year. You can listen to the whole episode here for full context.
So, first, I stand by every word I said on the show and by every cadence in which I said it. My “allegedly”s are where they need to be. I know what I’m talking about. Second, NPR’s standards and practices for clearing an episode with subject matter like pedophilia allegations are high. The ep went through two rounds of legal review before airing. Brittany, IBAM’s illustrious host, even says very clearly, “There is no evidence that Drake has committed a crime.”
I’m writing this post not because I feel anytime type of way over being mentioned. I’m writing this because the misuse of my words is tied to a larger issue I watch play out almost on a daily basis now.
Media literacy rates are dipping each year. And it's not just reading. Studies show people can also watch and listen to a piece of news content and not be able to discern fact from fiction. There are many reasons for this drop; Higher rates of mistrust, AI getting harder to decipher. But in the case of this suit, it's human tampering. Ultimately, who knows how many pieces of information are misconstrued or straight-up wrong in this filing? That’s for UMG lawyers to argue. But we’re about to enter a whole new frontier of mis- and disinformation, so that we gotta get better about doing right by our own minds. Yes, in this case, the lawyers could be twisting the messaging of our episode purposely to fit their argument. It wouldn’t be the first time that happened. But this moment is a reminder that if (and when) high-powered people pull this in highly-lauded places like courts of law, it's an attempt to insult the intelligence of everyone involved.
Reading is essential. Listening is essential. Discernment is your friend. It might damn-near be your only savior one day. That line in the sand is not just for Drake. It’s for the real and the fake.
In the between time, here’s some other news to discern:
TikTok’s funeral is underway as the U.S. ban of the app is set to take effect on Sunday, Jan. 19. In true fleeting fashion, the app has become even more deliciously chaotic, cunty, hilarious and unhinged. I usually don’t advocate for excess scrolling, but it really is a sight to see. Related: will you be migrated to Lemon8? Red Note? Getting off socials altogether?
Just as a ceasefire was announced between Israel and Palenstine after 15 months of bombings and murder, Israel’s PM Netanyahu is delaying the vote to ratify the decision and pushing back against the conditions to release Palestinian hostages. The future of the hostages – and millions more – is hanging in the balance.
Flaking is statistically on the rise! Ngl, this genuinely surprised me. I thought that in the wake of the pandemic-era lockdown more people were craving and determined to catch a vibe: Rates of travel have spiked. New modes of partying have emerged. But the reasons laid out in this piece argue otherwise.
One more thing:
Thanks for reading my first paid subscriber sub_stance post! I deeply appreciate you believing in my work enough to support it financially. I’m proud of what I’m building here and I promise to keep cooking as long as you keep reading. : )
