Drake filed a lawsuit Tuesday against his and Kendrick Lamar’s record label Universal Music Group, claiming Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” defamed Drake by calling him a “certified pedophile”

Drake attends the “Top Boy” UK Premiere at Hackney Picturehouse on Sept. 4, 2019 in London, England.

Timeline

Jan. 14, 2025: Drake sued Universal Music Group in federal court for defamation, harassment and deceptive practices for distributing and promoting Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” which famously refers to Drake and his associates as “certified pedophiles”—a reference Drake called “unequivocally false” and said led to “violence” and “unrelenting vitriol” against him (earlier, Drake withdrew a legal petition in state court demanding UMG and Spotify turn over information for a potential suit).

Nov. 26, 2024: Drake’s lawyers filed a second petition against record label Universal Music Group in Texas court, alleging the label paid iHeartRadio to boost airplay of Lamar’s “Not Like Us” and that the label knew the diss track contained “false” allegations about Drake—including that he is a “certified pedophile” and “predator”—yet it did not stop the song’s release.

Nov. 25: Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC filed a petition in New York court alleging UMG artificially inflated Spotify streams of Lamar’s “Not Like Us” by using bots and licensing the song at “drastically reduced rates to Spotify,” which UMG denied, stating “fans choose the music they want to hear” (Drake has not filed suit, but his petition asked Spotify and UMG to provide information for a potential lawsuit against unspecified parties).

Nov. 22: Lamar surprise-dropped new album “GNX,” on which he makes slight references to the Drake feud: On the opening track “wacced out murals,” he raps about his surprise that Snoop Dogg reposted Drake’s diss track, “Taylor Made Freestyle,” to his Instagram story, and the track “heart pt. 6” bears the same name as one of Drake’s disses.

Nov. 8: Lamar’s “Not Like Us” earned five Grammy nominations, including for Record and Song of the Year, while Drake did not receive any nods.

Sept. 11: Lamar released an untitled song frequently referred to by fans as “Watch The Party Die,” which does not directly mention Drake and is primarily a critique of celebrity culture and materialism, though some lyrics—like, “Just walked that man down, that’ll do everyone a solid / It’s love but tough love, sometimes you gotta result in violence”—were viewed as subtle digs at Drake.

Sept. 8: The NFL announced Lamar as the headliner for the upcoming Super Bowl LIX halftime show in New Orleans—viewed as another victory lap for the rapper this year, while also criticized by some who felt New Orleans native Lil Wayne should have been chosen to headline, a controversy Drake appeared to fan by posting photos of Lil Wayne, his frequent collaborator, to his Instagram story.

July 4: Lamar released a music video for “Not Like Us,” which contains several digs at Drake, including a shot of Lamar doing push-ups, a reference to Drake’s diss track, “Push Ups,” and a shot of Lamar dancing with his partner Whitney Alford, interpreted by fans as refuting Drake’s allegation that Lamar had been physically abusive to her.

June 19: Lamar performed his Drake diss tracks for the first time at his “The Pop Out: Ken & Friends” concert, including five straight performances of “Not Like Us” in which the rapper was joined onstage by dozens of Los Angeles-native celebrities, including rappers YG and Dr. Dre and NBA players DeMar DeRozan and Russell Westbrook.

June 5: Fans noticed all of Drake’s posts on Instagram referencing the beef, including the post promoting his latest diss track, “The Heart Part 6,” had been quietly deleted, weeks after Drake seemed to indicate he would be putting the rap battle behind him in a May 12 Instagram story post that read, “Good times. Summer vibes up next.”

May 24: Drake featured on Sexyy Red’s “U My Everything,” his first release since his series of diss tracks; halfway through his verse, the beat switches up and he raps over Metro Boomin’s “BBL Drizzy” beat, saying he and “the surgeon got history” and “BBL Drizzy, they want a new body, they ask me for it.”

May 13: Lamar and Drake’s feud took over this week’s Billboard Hot 100 chart as Lamar’s “Not Like Us” debuted at No. 1 with more than 70 million streams, “Euphoria” rose from No. 11 to No. 3 and “Like That” rose two spots to No. 6, while Drake’s “Family Matters” entered at No. 7.

May 11: A person who allegedly trespassed on Drake’s property on May 9 returned to Drake’s home in Toronto “to get his bike back,” police told NBC News, but he did not “leave the property when directed” and was given a ticket.

May 9: A trespasser at Drake’s Toronto home was involved in an altercation with security guards around 3:30 p.m. before being taken to the hospital, Toronto Police spokesperson Laura Brabant told Forbes—marking the third incident at Drake’s house in as many days.

May 8: Officers were called to Drake’s property after a person attempted to gain access to the property, and the person was apprehended under Ontario’s mental health act and taken to receive medical assistance, Toronto Police spokesperson Ashley Visser confirmed to Forbes (CNN reported the incident was not related to Tuesday’s shooting at Drake’s house, citing police).

May 7: Lamar’s “Not Like Us” broke a Spotify streaming record to become the most streamed American hip-hip song in a single-day with 6.59 million.

May 7: “Euphoria” by Lamar debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100, with Future’s “Like That” (guest-starring Lamar) at No. 8 and “Push Ups” by Drake at No. 17.

May 7: A security guard was shot outside of Drake’s sprawling Toronto estate early Tuesday morning, in what police told CBC was a drive-by shooting—it’s unclear if the shooting was related to the beef between the two artists, though Lamar used a Google Maps image of his rival’s house for the cover of his latest diss track, or if Drake was home at the time (neither artist has reacted publicly to the shooting).

May 5: Drake denied Lamar’s latest claims about his history and flat-out stated “I never been with no one under age” in a Sunday night release called “The Heart Part 6,” in which he says he and his team purposefully fed his adversary false information (including about a secret daughter) in the hopes he’d use it in a song: “We plotted for a week and then we fed you the information/A daughter that’s 11 years old, I bet he takes it.”

May 5: Producer Metro Boomin jumped into the beef by releasing a beat called “BBL Drizzy,” and inviting fans to rap over it, offering a free beat to the best song; Drake previously dissed Boomin on “Push Ups” by telling him to “shut up and make some drums.”

May 4: Lamar dropped yet another diss track, his third song in 36 hours, titled “Not Like Us” early Saturday evening in which he alludes to Drake’s alleged affinity for younger women and calls him and people on his team “certified pedophiles.”

May 4: Drake posted an Instagram story denying Lamar’s claim of a secret daughter, writing: “nahhhh hold on can someone find my hidden daughter pls and send her to me.”

May 3: Lamar dropped a second Drake diss track, “6:16 in LA”—likely a play on a format Drake has often used for song titles, including his “8am in Charlotte” and “5am in Toronto”—in which Lamar alleges Drake’s own team is against him, rapping that “everyone inside your team is whispering that you deserve it,” and stating Drake “can’t ‘Toosie Slide’ up out of this one,” a reference to his 2020 song.

May 3: Lamar hit back at Drake with “Meet the Grahams,” a reference to Drake’s legal name, Aubrey Drake Graham, calling him a “narcissist, misogynist, livin’ inside his songs” and suggesting the star fathered a daughter he has never publicly addressed. (Read more about the two new diss tracks).

May 3: Drake released a new single “Family Matters” Friday night—slamming Lamar’s engagement to longtime partner Whitney Alford and suggesting infidelity within their relationship.

May 2: “Euphoria” jumped from No. 19 to No. 1 on the daily U.S. Spotify chart, while Drake’s “Push Ups” rose from No. 15 to No. 11, marking a big increase in streams for both rappers—Drake ranks No. 2 on the Spotify artists daily chart, while Lamar rose from No. 9 to No. 3, both behind Taylor Swift.

May 1: Drake seemingly responded to Lamar’s diss by posting a clip from the 1999 film “10 Things I Hate About You” on his Instagram story in which Julia Stiles’ character Kat lists all the reasons she hates Heath Ledger’s character Patrick—possibly mirroring a part of “Euphoria” where Lamar lists reasons he hates Drake.

April 30: Lamar dropped “Euphoria,” a six-minute long diss track in which he lambasts Drake’s biracial identity (suggesting he shouldn’t be able to say the n-word), slams the rapper’s ability as a father and calls Drake a “scam artist,” questioning his authenticity as a rapper.

April 21: Kanye West jumped into the beef on a remix of “Like That,” taking shots at Drake’s music and his deal with Universal Music Group, stating he and his collaborators are “energized” for the “elimination of Drake.”

April 19: Drake released another diss track, “Taylor Made Freestyle,” using AI-generated voices of Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur to diss Lamar, daring him to respond: “We waitin’ on you,” Drake rapped.

April 15: Ross responded to Drake with “Champagne Moments,” alleging that Drake had multiple cosmetic procedures done including a nose job and ab surgery, while also accusing him of using ghostwriters (an accusation Drake has repeatedly denied).

April 13: Drake’s response to Lamar, “Push Ups,” leaked online (before its April 19 release), with lyrics slamming Lamar’s shorter stature and his mainstream collaborations with Taylor Swift and Maroon 5, while also dissing other artists including Rick Ross and The Weeknd.

April 7: Just two days after releasing “7 Minute Drill,” J. Cole backed down from the feud, stating he felt pressured to respond because “the world wanna see blood.”

April 5: J. Cole dropped his own Lamar diss track, “7 Minute Drill,” in which he fired “warning shots” at the rapper, accusing him of seeking “attention” and slamming his latest music releases as “tragic.”

March 22: Lamar responded on his verse on Metro Boomin and Future’s song “Like That,” slamming the rappers for “sneak dissing” and rejecting their idea of the “big three,” instead rapping: “It’s just big me.”

Oct. 6, 2023: Drake and J. Cole released collaboration “First Person Shooter,” in which J. Cole raps that himself, Drake and Lamar are the “big three” of rap.

Rapper Kendrick Lamar performs onstage at Hard Rock Stadium on July 24, 2022.

Surprising Fact

Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” is no longer available to stream after Tupac Shakur’s estate threatened legal action for the AI-generated use of his voice. Drake posted the song to his X and Instagram accounts on April 19, but deleted them a week later.

Key Background

Drake and Lamar’s beef spans more than the past decade. The two once had a seemingly friendly relationship, collaborating multiple times between 2011 and 2012. But in 2013, their relationship appeared to change after Lamar featured on Big Sean’s song, “Control,” in which he called out Drake and many other rappers, including Pusha T, Mac Miller and A$AP Rocky. “I got love for you all, but I’m tryna murder you,” Lamar rapped, adding he’s “tryna make sure your core fans never heard of you.” Fans have since theorized that the two have taken subtle shots at each other in their raps throughout the years. Some interpreted Lamar’s shots at artists who use ghostwriters in his 2015 song “King Kunta” could be a dig at Drake. Fans and observers of Lamar and Drake’s beef have interpreted the feud to be over who could be considered the greatest rapper of today—though a Rolling Stone analysis of their feud noted the two have different strengths and different claims to the title of “greatest” rapper. Lamar has long been known for his critically acclaimed work, including 17 Grammy Award wins and a Pulitzer Prize for his 2017 album, “DAMN.” Drake, meanwhile, is commercially dominant: He was the most-streamed artist of the 2010s on Spotify, and he has the most certified digital singles of any artist, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. “Euphoria” by Lamar debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 on May 7.

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Tangent

Drake, Lamar and other artists involved in the feud have found recent success on the charts, possibly thanks to the publicity offered by the feud. “Like That” has dominated the Billboard Hot 100 since release—it topped the chart for three consecutive weeks and has remained on the chart for six weeks today. “7 Minute Drill” debuted at No. 6 on the Hot 100 after its release, while “Push Ups” debuted at No. 19 (the fifth-highest non-Swift song). Lamar’s “Euphoria” was the No. 1 trending video on YouTube one day after release with 8 million views and debuted at No. 11 on the Billboard Hot 11. Drake rose from No. 18 to No. 3 the Billboard Artist 100, which measures the most popular artists in a given week based on sales, streaming and radio airplay numbers.