drake
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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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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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Drake’s loudest cheerleader, DJ Akademiks, made bold claims about LeBron James from his gaming chair.
The podcaster and internet personality now alleges that LeBron James stepped out on his long-time wife, Savannah James, and he claims Drake helped him do it.
In a bizarre rant from his streaming room, Akademiks lobbed many unconfirmed allegations against the 4-time NBA champion, accusing him of engaging in “two-man” experiences where the two would engage in sex with the same woman whenever he was in Toronto.
Through his unconfirmed sources in Toronto, Akademiks claims that Drizzy supplied the Los Angeles Laker superstar with so many white women that Dr. Umar would be upset.
Per Complex:
Yo LeBron, I talked to enough whores in Canada. I’ve talked to enough people maybe Drake will keep teasing it let me just tell you what I’ve heard,” said Ak. “Yo LeBron, you and Drake used to go on two-mans ok? You’ve been cheating on your God damned wife. Drake used to facilitate the hoes and basically, essentially you can’t dance to a song about him being a pedophile.He used to supply you with the bitches, I’m sorry my n***a.”
He continued, “If I’m Drake I’ll snitch on you too. Sorry buddy you can’t do that. No. You’ve been living a lie, and everybody been thinking you’re this perfect guy. But when you come to Canada, I know some of the whores. When you come to Canada you come to certain places. ‘I’m supplying you with the white women you love. You don’t even like Black chicks, white women. I’m the guy.’”
Akademiks, who was accused of rape and defamation by an ex-girlfriend, added that Drake and James “all like the same smuts.” He continued that his favorite rapper is taking subliminal shots at Bron because he should have stayed out of Drizzy’s beef with Kendrick Lamar and never attended the Pop Out concern,t knowing Drake knew all of his alleged extramarital affairs.
Dj Akademiks goes off on LeBron James for cheating in his wife with the white girls from Toronto . You should be trying to win a chip with lakers instead of singing the Kendrick Lamar song calling Drake a pedo . He’s stopping yes Julz from exposing you pic.twitter.com/pcAAlKp5aU
— joebuddenclips/fanpage (@Chatnigga101) January 11, 2025
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Influencer and media entrepreneur YesJulz, who has been accused of being James’ “sidechick” for years, clapped back at a user on X, formerly Twitter, who accused her of not reading the room. She referenced lines from the “Fighting Irish Freestyle,” where Drake allegedly took shots at the pro-hooper.
“You really think I give af about ya’lls baseless rumors? Bron is my fav player, and I will always celebrate his wins!” she responded.
Social media has also been chiming in, calling Akademiks a snitch and the ultimate Drake glazer.
Akademiks right now pic.twitter.com/PBM4nxEyRX
— Comment King👑 (@RicanBoiKev) January 11, 2025
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You can see those reactions in the gallery below.
1. Kendrick Lamar foresaw it.
2. They damn sure do
5. Hate to see it
6. Jump on a grenade for him too.
12. Hmmmmm
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2024 was an absolute struggle year for Drake as Kendrick Lamar systematically tore down his reputation, credibility, and popularity all in a matter of weeks (just sayin’), and now it seems like 2025 might not be much kinder, as the King of the North is having trouble moving his home out in California.
According to Newsweek, the “One Dance” artist is currently trying to sell his Beverly Hills home, which he purchased in March of 2022 only to put it back on the market in May of 2023. Originally shelling out $75 million for the 10-bedroom, 22-bath mansion, Drizzy was hoping to get back a little something on top and listed it for $88 million. Unfortunately, for him, it doesn’t seem like it’s garnering much interest. And Drizzy might have to take yet another L and sell the estate for a little less than his original asking price even, as Redfin says that median sale price in Beverly Hills is up 19.4% year-over-year.
Per Newsweek:
Redfin estimates that Drake’s house is worth approximately $69 million—about $6 million less than what the rapper paid for the property in 2022 and $19 million less than the current asking price.
The 24,757-square-foot home was initially owned by British singer Robbie Williams, who purchased the property in 2015 for just over $32 million. While Williams made over $42 million in the sale, Drake may have to take a $6 million loss if the home sells at its current $69 million valuation.
“I think it’s a hard sell,” Scott Gorelick, realtor at The Agency RE in Beverly Hills, told Newsweek.
According to Gorelick, Drake’s mansion sits outside the confines of a “true” Beverly Hills location, and those willing to pay that high of a price tag are typically home shopping on Billionaires Row in Malibu, Beverly Hills Proper or Bel Air, California.
Drizzy didn’t even cop a crib in the “true” Beverly Hills?! We’re shocked.
While most homes for sale in Beverly Hills only last roughly two months on the market, Drake’s home has been sitting for 248 days and counting with no buyers in sight as of yet. If Drizzy wants to move that house, he may have to lower his asking price a bit more and take a loss on his original $75 million investment.
Scott Gorelick, realtor at The Agency RE in Beverly Hills, told Newsweek: “…I think the price is closer to $60M in that location. Most of the 20 acres is unusable hillside and the views are not the A+ views that many other locations in Beverly Hills Proper or Bel Air will have. The home is also dated and needs a renovation.”
That Canadian man just can’t catch a break in the States.
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This past Monday night (Jan. 6), WWE made their Netflix debut when RAW aired on the streaming service for the first time live from Los Angeles. And to ensure the show was a memorable one, The New Day decided to take some potshots at beloved LA artist, Kendrick Lamar, in one of their comedic segments.
In recent weeks, The New Day (Kofi Kingston and Xavier Woods) have gone from good guys to heels as they reinvent themselves and do what they can to get the crowd to boo them wherever they go. Being that they were in Los Angeles for the first Monday Night RAW of the year, the two decided to go after LA’s favorite son, Kendrick Lamar, and it could not have been more hilarious.
With the crowd booing their every word, Woods responded to the audience by saying, “Think about it, for what, the past six months y’all have been elevating this trash rapper, Kendrick Lamar…” Cue even louder boos and screams. Seeing an opportunity to throw in his own two cents, Kingston chimed in with his own take saying, “Yeah, boo him. We think he sucks too… So you’re not mad at us. You’re mad at Kendrick Lamar because Drake won the beef, right?”
Needless to say, that did not go over too well with the Los Angelenos in the stadium. Only Hulk Hogan’s appearance garnered more boos and disdain from the crowd than The New Day’s take on Kung Fu Kenny.
While most of the Hip-Hop world agrees that K. Dot won the battle, it doesn’t seem like we’ve heard the last of it yet, as Drizzy and K. Dot continue to throw darts at each other long after Drake said he was moving on from the rap beef. Guess we’ll have to wait and see what the two have in store for us in this new year.
Check out The New Day’s comedic segment below, and let us know your thoughts about the skit in the comments section below.
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Drake is in his feelings, allegedly. The Toronto rapper dropped a new freestyle, titled “Fighting Irish,” which features bars seemingly aimed at his former associates who aligned with Kendrick Lamar after their famed 2024 “beef.”
DRAKE
NEW FREESTYLE 🎙️
(PROD. CONDUCTOR WILLIAMS)
🚨OUT NOW🚨 pic.twitter.com/4KyXY2Yjug
— NFR Podcast (@nfr_podcast) January 3, 2025
Reportedly, the freestyle was originally released on Friday, January 3, via producer Conductor William’s YouTube page. However, it was taken down within the hour. But that was plenty of time to rip the clip elsewhere and for social media detectives to determine who the 6 God was aiming shots at, in verse.
“The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets, seemed like they loved every minute/ Just know the s–t is personal to us and wasn’t just business/ Analyzing behavioral patterns is somewhat suspicious,” spits Drake over a Quiet Storm-ready groove in the grainy clip that still managed to make the social media rounds despite the takedown of the original.
The consensus is that LeBron James is one of the subjects of Drizzy’s ire. “Talkin’ bout we family but I’m not the cousin to visit. God forbid we ever gotta tarnish your public image,” raps Drake—bars many assume are aimed at King James. Also, conspiracy theorists were quick to point out that the nickname of LeBron’s high school is the Fighting Irish.
All that to say, the shade isn’t going over well for Drizzy, save for his most devoted fans. In fact, it seems like the majority of folk are accusing the “God’s Plan” rapper of playing the victim.
See for yourself in the reactions compiled below. So much for new and old friends.
1. Can we leave LeBron’s family out of this, though?
2. Bruh…
5. Rick Ross definitely gonna say something.
9. Again, leave LeBron alone.
11. Azealia Banks has entered the chat.