Drake‘s legal battles over the success of Kendrick Lamar‘s acclaimed “Not Like Us” continues as he settles one dispute. According to the Associated Press, the 38-year-old and iHeartMedia have reached a settlement regarding a legal petition filed in November where the Canadian musician claimed the company boosted the diss record on the radio by taking illegal payments from Universal Media Group (UMG).
Attorneys representing the “God’s Plan” performer relayed that he and iHeartMedia had “reached an amicable resolution of the dispute,” per AP.
“We are pleased that the parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to both sides, and have no further comment on this matter,” a statement continued.
In January, Drake officially filed a defamation lawsuit against UMG alleging the music company was aware that the “certified pedophile” claims made in “Not Like Us” were false and defamatory, yet still chose to distribute the record. The self-proclaimed “6 God” also alleged that UMG ignored the “inflammatory and shocking allegations” of the record knowing it would be a “gold mine” for the company.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” detailed a statement from the company in November 2024, when the Grammy-winning rapper filed a petition asserting UMG “launched 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, including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.”
The statement continued, “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.“
“Not Like Us” has become the most successful of all the tracks released by either Kendrick Lamar or Drake amid their ongoing feud. Besides being used to troll Drake on national stages from Super Bowl LIX to the 2025 Oscars, the chart-topping track earned the Compton rapper multiple Grammy awards including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
“At the end of the day, nothing’s more powerful than rap music. I don’t care what it is,” declared K. Dot in his Song Of The Year acceptance speech. “We are the culture, it’s gon’ always stay here and live forever.”
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