Drake and UMG’s ‘Not Like Us’ Lawsuit Trial May Final Three Weeks

Drake is ready for a weeks-long trial in opposition to Common Music Group following the discharge of Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-winning diss observe.

In courtroom paperwork obtained by PEOPLE on Wednesday, April 9, the 38-year-old Canadian rapper’s authorized protection states that “settlement discussions haven’t taken place.”

In response to the submitting, the case is predicted to be tried earlier than a jury and is estimated to final for 3 weeks in New York. 

The continued battle started when Lamar, 37, launched “Not Like Us” in Might 2024, as the 2 artists had been engaged in a public feud. Lamar’s single refers to Drake as a “licensed pedophile” who needs to be “positioned on neighborhood watch.”

The Compton rapper additionally carried out the hit on the 2025 Tremendous Bowl halftime present in February. 

Though the phrase “pedophile” was omitted from his televised efficiency, Lamar smiled as he regarded on the digicam when he delivered the road, “Say, Drake, I hear you want ‘em younger.” 

This yr’s huge sport was seen by an estimated 127.7 million folks, making it the most important Tremendous Bowl viewers in TV historical past, in response to analysis by Nielsen.

In a earlier submitting obtained by PEOPLE, Drake’s attorneys refuted UMG’s claims that Lamar’s lyrics had been his opinion and alleged that “UMG fully ignores the Criticism’s allegations that hundreds of thousands of individuals, everywhere in the world, did perceive [the song] as a factual assertion that [Drake] is a pedophile.”

“UMG overtly continued to publish and promote the [song] even after [Drake’s] residence was attacked by a gunman, after his companies had been defaced, after [Drake] made UMG conscious of the falsity of the allegations (and the hurt they had been inflicting), and after UMG knew that the general public believed the allegations to be true statements of reality,” the submitting claimed.

On March 31, Drake launched a brand new music video for his single “Nokia,” and followers got here up with theories on how the “Hotline Bling” rapper was seemingly hitting again on the California native.

One fan identified that Drake’s black-and-white music video for “Nokia,” was similar to the filter utilized in Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”

“Drake gotta be trolling kendrick for positive. the handshake, the owls, the birdseye view, the dances, the choreo,” one other fan wrote.

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Amid the continuing feud, UMG beforehand mentioned Drake “misplaced a rap battle that he provoked” and “sued his personal document label in a misguided try to salve his wounds.”