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Source: Noel Vasquez / Getty / LeBron James
LeBron James seemingly had the perfect response to Drake following the rapper’s light jab at him during his first show on his Australian tour.
On Wednesday, LeBron James took to Instagram to express his excitement for Kendrick Lamar’s upcoming Super Bowl Halftime performance.
James shared a clip of an old K.Dot performance that was part of Dr. Dre’s epic medley during 2022’s star-studded Super Bowl Halftime show performance.
“He gone kill that [poo emoji]!!!! Can’t wait *Bart Scott voice,” Luka Doncic’s new running mate said in his Instagram Stories post.
Usually, this wouldn’t mean anything, but now it’s part of the ongoing battle between Drizzy and Lamar. Drizzy is still licking his wounds after “Not Like Us” has declared that anyone who rocked with Lamar and bopped to the Grammy-winning diss record is an enemy, including those he once considered friends like James.
Drake Has Been Taking Numerous Shots At LeBron James
Drake has been taking shots at LeBron James. During the opening night of this Anita Max Win Tour, the Six God changed the lyrics of his song “Nonstop.” In the original lyrics, Drake raps, “How did I go from 6 to 23 like I’m LeBron?”
During his performance on the Anita Max Tour, he switched the lyrics to criticize Bron, rapping, “How I go from 6 to 23 but not LeBron, man?”
This was not the only time Drizzy expressed his distaste for James. In his song “Fighting Irish Freestyle,” the Canadian Hip-Hop star seemingly criticized the Los Angeles Lakers superstar and DeMar DeRozan for attending Lamar’s epic Pop Out concert.
Fighting Irish is a nod to LBJ’s high school basketball team.
“The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets / Seemed like they loved every minute / Just know this shit is personal to us, and it wasn’t just business.”
James tried to show no love lost on his end, rocking a pair of The Boy’s Nike Air Force One sneakers with “Love you forever” etched on them, adding the infinity emoji to the post.
Meanwhile, Drake is still big mad and recently rocked a bullet hole-filled hoodie to signify all the shots he took and that he’s still here despite the “Not Like Us” kill shot.
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Kendrick Lamar, fresh from hauling in five trophies at the 67th Annual Grammy Awards, with his scathing Drake diss “Not Like Us,” notching two big awards for the night. According to reports, the Compton lyricist has handed in his Super Bowl Halftime Show set list as the NFL and censors mull over the inclusion of the track.
According to a report from TMZ, Kendrick Lamar put the finishing touches on his set for the halftime show at Super Bowl LIX, which takes place this weekend in New Orleans. As we mentioned above, “Not Like Us” won Record Of The Year and Song Of The Year Grammys, solidifying the cultural and commercial impact of the song that many believe toppled Drake’s crown.
With the outlet stating that K-Dot turned in his list to the NFL, FOX network leadership, and all related legal parties involved, it’s assumed that the league doesn’t want to risk getting in hot water as Drake has an open defamation lawsuit filed against Universal Music Group over claims they platformed the smash single which takes some sharp digs at the Canadian superstar’s character in ways never heard before on wax.
TMZ added in their reporting that the NFL and all of the connected brass will check out the setlist and go over the lyrics with their legal teams. The idea is to make sure Lamar doesn’t say anything that’ll get them flagged by the FCC, and the independent government agency will certainly have their work cut out for them considering that one line that truly goes there.
Kendrick Lamar invited his former TDE labelmate SZA to join him onstage for the big event.
Super Bowl LIX airs on Sunday, Nov. 9.
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Source: Cole Burston / Getty / Drake
Drake still feels a way about everyone realizing he got his a** handed to him by Kendrick Lamar.
Not feeling the love stateside, Drake took his OVO Force 1 to Australia, where he is currently on his Anita Max Win Tour, showing his Australian fans some love because he hasn’t been down under in years.
Initially, Drake was supposed only to do seven shows, but due to popular demand, The Boy hiked that number up to 16 and will see him hit the stage in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and Auckland.
On night one, Drizzy has folks talking because of the interesting way he decided to address the massive elephant in the room, his battle with Kendrick Lamar, who is coming off an epic night at the Grammys where he swept, winning all categories he was nominated, including Song of The Year and Record of The Year for what many are calling the greatest diss record of all time, “Not Like Us.”
The “God’s Plan” crafter stuck to his concert formula of walking through the crowd to begin the show, but this time, he wore a bullet hole-riddled hoodie that hilariously was emitting smoke from the back, signifying all the shots he took, but also adding that he’s still here, while walking out to “Over My Dead Body.”
By the end of his performance, Drake reminded everyone who he was and that he was still alive despite Kendrick Lamar bodying him. “My name is Drake. I started doing music in 2008. I come all the way from Toronto, Canada. The year is now 2025, and no matter what, Drizzy Drake is very much alive.”
Drake Is Still Salty About LeBron James Attending The “Pop Out”
During his performance, Drake also let us know he is still very salty about LeBron James being at Kendrick Lamar’s “Pop Out” concert and professing his love for “Not Like Us” during the Paris Olympics.
While performing “Nonstop,” Drake changed the lyrics, “How I go from 6 to 23 but not LeBron, man.”
We are sure Drizzy will take more pot shots during his tour, until then you can see reactions to this stunt in the gallery below.
2. Pretty Much
4. Pretty Much
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Drake and PartyNextDoor have officially announced their long-awaited collaborative album, ‘$ome $exy $ongs 4 U’ set to drop on Valentine’s Day. This marks a huge moment for fans who’ve been eagerly awaiting a full project from the two, a duo with a longstanding history of collaboration and mutual respect. The anticipation goes all the way back to 2014 when PartyNextDoor first made waves with his debut project P1, which featured Drake on the track “Over Here,” delivering one of his most memorable verses. From that point on, Drake has been a constant presence in Party’s career, appearing on every single one of his projects and often singing his praises as one of his favorite artists.
Partynextdoor, signed to Drake’s OVO Sound label, has not only built a successful solo career but also contributed behind the scenes, notably penning Rihanna’s smash hit “Work.” A reference track from that era even leaked, with Party’s vocals sounding just as smooth as the final version. Further fueling the excitement, fans have long speculated that Party contributed heavily to tracks on Drake’s ‘If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late’—with some even uncovering a leaked reference for the intro “Legend” where PX was singing.
Given their chemistry both in the studio and behind the scenes, $ome $exy $ongs 4 U is bound to be a project that will reward fans who’ve been patiently waiting for years. With a mix of catchy hooks and sultry vibes, this Valentine’s Day release is set to be one for the books.
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Dr. Dre has served as a mentor to Kendrick Lamar and has intimate knowledge of his fellow Compton native’s mindset as a rapper and lyricist. In a recent audio series, Dr. Dre pinpointed where Drake miscalculated his shots toward Kendrick Lamar, culminating in one of the largest landslides in Hip-Hop battle history.
Via the new Audible original series, The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell, Dr. Dre shared his thoughts with the pair regarding the fervor surrounding the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef and how it went left rather swiftly. According to the superstar producer, Drake’s digs at Lamar’s wife and family were the last straw.
At one point in the conversation, as Billboard notes, Barris turned the conversation toward “Not Like Us” and how it instilled pride in him as a Los Angeles native. Dre chimed in and shared his thoughts on the impact of the record and what inspired it.
“I love that record. I’ma say this on camera. I don’t want to get negative,” Dr. Dre said My whole sh*t is about being positive and moving forward and all that sh*t, but the fact I heard Drake say something negative about Kendrick’s wife and his kids, that made me say, ‘Ah, adios!’”
The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell debuted on Jan. 30 and the series has a wide slate of guests planned such as Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Ava DuVernay, Sue Bird, and more. They even turn the questions on themselves to discuss careers with Gladwell a notable author and Barris as a producer and director.
Check out the series here.
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Source: Bernard Beanz Smalls / Bernard Beanz Smalls,
We are not even a month into 2025 and Jim Jones keeps going viral. Capo says he sees nothing wrong with Drake suing Universal Music Group.
As spotted on HipHopDX Jim Jones recently paid a visit to the Broke N’ Frontin podcast. While he discussed a variety of topics regarding his career, the music industry and more it was his very hot take about Champagne Papi that took many people by surprise. “He’s not snitching on nobody. He’s not in a court of law, he’s not personally suing Kendrick Lamar, which everybody seems to think that this lawsuit is about,” he explained. “He’s suing UMG, which is the biggest company that has the biggest bag, n***a.”
Jomo went on to remind everyone that the lines behind this lawsuit have been blurred in the media and made sure to clarify that Drake is not suing Kendrick Lamar. “Y’all associating motherf***ing brussel sprouts with apples. It’s two totally different things. If it was any other thing, I would call a red flag. But this has got no reflection of the street or rap culture.” To hear Jim Jones tell it the Hip-Hop community should be happy for Drake if he is successful in this legal battle. “When Tracy Morgan caught that bag, we were happy for him. So how the f*** we not going be happy about somebody getting a bag from one of the biggest companies that’s been raping everybody anyway?”
You can see Jim Jones discuss Drake, Harlem, Cam’ron and more below.
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In a recent street interview, Pusha T’s brother, No Malice, was asked about his favorite song, and his answer caught many by surprise: Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” The irony here is that “Not Like Us” is widely believed to be a diss track aimed at Drake, a long-time rival of Pusha T. Given the intense beef between Pusha and Drake, it’s interesting to see that No Malice, who has stayed mostly out of the spotlight in recent years, seems to “vibe” with a track that’s part of the ongoing drama.
The rivalry between Pusha and Drake reached its peak with Pusha’s brutal “The Story of Adidon,” where he revealed that Drake had a son, whom he hadn’t publicly acknowledged at the time. The revelation sent shockwaves through the hip-hop community. Since then, Drake has become much more open about his son, Adonis, proudly sharing moments of their relationship, including being a hands-on basketball dad at his son’s games.
Drake responded to Pusha’s diss with a line from his album Views, humorously saying, “I wasn’t hiding my son from the world, I was hiding the world from my son.” But the final blow came when Drake appeared on LeBron James’ show, The Shop, and expressed frustration with battle rap “rules,” claiming he didn’t want to participate anymore after Pusha crossed a line by revealing his son’s existence and the health struggles of his close friend and producer, 40. The drama between Pusha and Drake may have settled, but the story is still part of hip-hop lore.
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Just when it seemed like Drake was about to move on from the massive loss he took at the hands of Kendrick Lamar by dropping his legal petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify over their promotion of “Not Like Us,” the Certified Lover Boy artist shocked the Hip-Hop world by turning around and suing UMG for “defamation” over the record. Christ on crutches.
Continuing to make himself look funny in the light, “Deposition” Drizzy sued his own record label stating that the new classic diss record slandered his reputation for alleging that he was a pedophile amongst a few other head-nodding allegations. Not taking the lawsuit lying down, Billboard is reporting that Universal Music Group has responded to Drake’s lawsuit by calling it “illogical” and accusing the Canadian crooner of “weaponizing the legal system.”
While it’s safe to say that many Hip-Hoppers agree that Drake is reaching with his latest lawsuit, it’s also become obvious that Drake is looking for any way to save some face, as Kendrick’s scathing diss track has cost Drake not only his “street credibility” but also his popularity amongst Hip-Hop fans who aren’t so interested in hearing any new material from Drake anytime soon. That being said, filing such a lawsuit not only makes him look that much worse out on these streets, but continues to give life and notoriety to Kung Fu Kenny’s now-classic club diss record.
Per Billboard:
In a strongly-worded statement issued Wednesday afternoon (Jan. 15), UMG flatly denied the allegations in Drake’s lawsuit — filed earlier in the day in New York federal court — and sharply criticized its superstar artist for bringing it.
“Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical,” the company wrote. “We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.”
In his new lawsuit, Drake claims that UMG knew that “Not Like Us” contained false allegations against his character but that his record label decided to put it out anyway and “chose to place corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
UMG clapped back by saying that Drake himself has engaged in numerous rap battles where he too participated in the slandering of his fellow Hip-Hop peers.
“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists,” UMG wrote. “He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
“We have not and do not engage in defamation—against any individual,” UMG said in the statement. “At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song.”
Most rappers would just take the loss and move on with their life (See Ja Rule). Not Drake though. That man will obviously go to great lengths to salvage whatever “honor” he feels he has left even if it means making him look like a Canadian Karen to millions of Hip-Hoppers in the process.
God help us all.
What do y’all think about Universal Music Group’s response to Drake’s latest lawsuit? Are they in the right? Does Drake have a case given Hip-Hop’s history of rap battles? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Drake has officially brought the US Justice system into his “beef” with Kendrick Lamar. The Toronto rapper has filed a lawsuit for defamation against the Universal Music Group (UMG), his own record label.
Drake’s new lawsuit against UMG over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”:
“It was just three days after UMG originally published the Recording and Image that Drake was targeted at his Toronto house by armed intruders in the 2024 equivalent of ‘Pizzagate.’”https://t.co/EVhVle8tsx pic.twitter.com/fMwDvoWQLp
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 15, 2025
Earlier, it was reported that Drake had dropped his initial legal petition against UMG and Spotify, where he claimed both entities had manipulated the plays of Kendrick Lamar’s scathing “Not Like Us” to his detriment. Per usual, Drizzy was met with scorn due to even the idea of brining the authorities into a rap battle.
But alas, it was only dropped so the 6 God could raise the ante, as reported by Variety, on Wednesday, January 15, he filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York accusing UMG of defamation due its promotion of “Not Like Us,” where K. Dot likens him to a pedophile, amongst other derogatory (to the delight of many listeners) accusations. Per Drake, UMG knew that Kendrick Lamar’s claims were all lies, but they promoted the song anyway and “chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists. UMG saw an opportunity, seized it, and continued to fan the flames.”
The suit contends Drake’s issue is with UMG boosting “Not Like Us” and not with Kendrick Lamar, technically.
Reports Variety:
Although Lamar’s lyrics are at the heart of the lawsuit, it clearly places the blame on Universal for releasing, distributing and promoting the song: “This lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’” it suit reads. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.” However, Drake seems to have backed down on claims that UMG and Spotify conspired to falsely boost the song’s streaming numbers; those allegations were strenuously denied by both companies. Ironically, Universal distributes both Lamar’s and Drake’s music — both artists own their recent master recordings via their companies — and has for the majority of both artists’ careers. The suit claims that because Drake’s current deal with UMG is nearing the end of its term, the company is attempting to devalue his music and profile in an effort to gain more-favorable terms in a renegotiation.
Now Drake is really getting cooked on the Internets. See for yourself in the gallery.
Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl performance just got that much more highly anticipated.
This story is developing.
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Drake shocked his legion of fans and detractors by taking pre-trial legal action against Universal Music Group and Spotify for allegedly platforming “Not Like Us,” the scathing diss track from his rival Kendrick Lamar. This week, Drake filed to drop the legal petition against UMG and Spotify which prompted many on X to assume that the OVO honcho is waving the white flag.
As reported in detail by Billboard, Drake and his legal team filed for the withdrawal of the petition on Tuesday (Jan. 14) in a Manhattan court. The Canadian superstar’s Frozen Moments LLC was the top name on the petition and as the outlet adds, the company still has an active filing aimed at UMG and iHeartRadio in Texas courts. No official statements have been made by the aforementioned parties in these matters.
In November, Drake took action against UMG and Spotify in the aftermath of his explosive audio feud with Kendrick Lamar, with “Not Like Us” topping the Billboard charts and shifting the musical landscape. Many on the sidelines believe that the Canadian superstar’s light has dimmed since taking the heavy blows delivered during the back-and-forth battle, along with unproven accusations of sexual misconduct and other heinous charges.
The petition was a revelation for many considering the longtime partnership between Drake and UMG, which began with Lil Wayne’s Young Money outfit before signing with Republic Records. In 2022, Drake signed a deal with UMG reported to be up to $400 million, adding to the shockwaves felt by the industry with the filing of the petition.
In it, Drake states that UMG violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and added that Spotify worked with the company by offering reduced licensing fees in exchange for pushing “Not Like Us” into the algorithms of users of the streaming service. The Texas petition levies similar charges. The outlet rightly explains that a petition is a pre-trial action that legal teams use to gather information ahead of filing a full-on lawsuit.
On X, formerly Twitter, music fans are taking shots at Drake for pulling the petition. We’ve got those reactions below.
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