Two joke rappers will go down in history for the way they’ve changed rap history: Weird Al Yankovic for his Amish-themed reinterpretation of Gangsta’s Paradise and Aubrey “Drake” Graham’s repeated attempts to crawl out of the career hole he landed himself in after he asked a Pulitzer Prize-winning rapper to call him a pedophile and his opponent obliged.
Drake, known mostly for a phenomenal 2009 mixtape, hijacking DRAM’s Cha-Cha to morphing it into hurtboy anthem Hotline Bling and getting charged with RICO over gambling and the play counts of his songs, wants the case to be revisited because he believes that the outcome prevents rap lyrics from ever being used in court. Stereogum has coverage:
According to his legal team’s 60-page document, Kendrick’s lyrics state as an “unambiguous matter of fact” that Drake is a “certified pedophile,” and Universal “relentlessly” promoted the song, causing Drake significant harm. “The court effectively created an unprecedented and overbroad categorical rule that statements in rap diss tracks can never constitute statements of fact,” his attorney writes. UMG’s response to the brief is due March 27.
Imagine doing all of this legal work to get a ruling that’s something like “Yeah, it probably is a little broad to suggest that rap lyrics can never be used in court. That said, you still weren’t defamed and that video of you openly lusting over and kissing a girl you knew was 17 on stage when you were 24 is still cringe as hell.” I’m sure there’s a more judicious way to state this, like when Judge Jeannette Vargas described the allegedly defamatory statements as being “nonactionable opinion” instead of the far less judge-like assessment that “The Boy” got his feelings hurt in a poem competition where determining that a thing rhymes is more important than determining if a thing is true. For the sake of argument, imagine the legal hellscape the rap community would be in if a case held that the lyrics were presumed truthful? Each and every artist would have to put out a Lil Tecca-styled Verified to confirm that they were actually just joshing. Mention your Audemars one too many times? The IRS might come a-knocking. Is that world really preferable to admitting you lost, Drake?
Not sure which is the crazier gamble: whatever he’s doing with Anita Max Win or his repeated double or nothing bet on this lawsuit.
Drake Appeals Dismissal Of Not Like Us Lawsuit [Stereogum]
Earlier: Kendrick Really Is What The Culture Feeling: Drake Lost The Rap Battle AND The Court Battle
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim, is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
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