Is Universal trying to step in to quash Kendrick Lamar & Drake’s beef?

One of the ways in which you know that Drake doesn’t have any real friends in the industry is that no one warned him not to f–k with Kendrick Lamar. J. Cole has real friends and they warned HIM. Which is why J. Cole stepped away from the simmering beef weeks ago and publicly apologized to Kendrick. Reportedly, ScHoolboy Q was the one to pull J. Cole aside and have a conversation about how Kendrick was fully prepared to take down Drake, and J.Cole didn’t want to get caught in the crossfire. Now, maybe Drake was warned like that too and he disregarded the warning out of ego and stupidity. As Kendrick has indicated repeatedly, Drake’s crew is compromised.

Within a week, Kendrick dropped “Euphoria,” “6:16 in LA,” “Meet the Grahams” and then “Not Like Us.” These songs have ruined Drake, and they’ve also showed that Kendrick can really do it all. “Not Like Us” is not only an evisceration of Drake personally and professionally (referring to him as both a pedophile AND a colonizer), it’s turning out to be one of the most successful songs of Kendrick’s career. “Not Like Us” is such a huge hit, it dethroned a Spotify streaming record set by Drake. It will likely debut at #1 on Spotify’s global chart.

“Not Like Us” is having a huge cultural impact too – the YouTube reactors are seeing their view numbers explode as they break down the beef and the music, and behind the scenes, Kendrick has removed the copyrights on his songs for the YouTubers, so they can make some money. “Not Like Us” is being played at MLB games and NBA games too – LA Dodger Gavin Lux used the song for his walkup. TNT used the song during the Timberwolves game on Monday.

Meanwhile, there are some fascinating rumors swirling on social media. There’s a rumor that Kendrick was going to release another diss track on Tuesday but he hit pause because there was a shooting at Drake’s mansion in Toronto. Kendrick said in “Not Like Us” that he has a lot more to say and possibly up to five more songs just about Drake.

There’s also a big rumor that the suits are now getting involved and trying to exert pressure on Kendrick to make peace, all because “Certified Loverboy? Certified Pedophiles” is hurting their bottom line. Serena Williams’ husband Alexis Ohanian amplified that rumor, but that being said, TMZ has an article disputing it. TMZ’s sources said that UMG (Drake and Kendrick’s shared label) did not insert itself in the beef and no one at Universal would step in like that: “The way it was explained to us … Kendrick and Drake’s beef is between them and completely separate from the business side of things — and UMG just doesn’t think it’s their place to step in either way. So, they didn’t … nor did they ever consider doing so.” It sounds more like everyone knows that Kendrick can’t be controlled, right?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid, Instar.

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17 Responses to “Is Universal trying to step in to quash Kendrick Lamar & Drake’s beef?”

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  1. TIFFANY says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:17 am

    So Kendrick waived copyright for YT reaction videos. Yeah, UMG and Universal is totally involved and you cannot convince me otherwise.

    And also, paying hundreds of millions for music by Drake just shows how dumb some of these execs are.

  2. Onemoretime says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:19 am

    I’m pretty sure it’s over. Drake basically said he doesn’t want to do this anymore on his last drop. Essentially waving the white flag.
    All hail king Kendrick.

  3. Ameerah M says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:26 am

    I don’t think UMG is involved merely because Not Like Us is making them MONEY. Why would they want to squash that? I also don’t think KDot is going to release anything else. He won the battle – and Drake solidified that with that self-report rebuttal song. Sometimes all you have to do is sit back and watch your enemy prove you right. Which is what Drake did.

  4. Dee(2) says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:30 am

    I’m sure there are some truth to the rumors once money became involved. Kendrick doesn’t release enough and Drake releases too much for them to be okay with people not listening to Drake’s music. But I do think it shows that people in the industry work with Drake because it’s beneficial to them not because it actually shows their affection. I mean you have producers who can charge a half a million dollars a beat creating free beats and offering reward money for people to diss him on. I think Drake was a little shocked at how many people in the industry were perfectly okay with his downfall.

    • NotSoSocialB says:
      May 10, 2024 at 10:34 am

      Waaaaaay outside the loop here, but yeah, the general complicity of industry peeps shows zero respect or fondness for him- and you KNOW there’s a *damn* good reason for that.

  5. Noo says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:31 am

    Waiting for the tea on how the Raptors are going to handle Kendrick’s music at Scotiabank arena??!! Someone going to swoop in and get a ban on it? So embarrassing for Drake.

  6. Enthusiast says:
    May 8, 2024 at 11:43 am

    I do not see how this attack on Drake will hurt his bottom line of women fans who love his I-never-met-a-stripper-or-college girl-I-didn’t-love persona. The pass the champagne fans & the I love Jlo and Sade, too (for the older ladies) fans will never stop loving this guy. They already know about Millie Bobby Brown and do not care.

    I’m not a Kendrick fan, either. His attack on biracial Drake’s blackness while marrying a biracial woman and cheating on her with white women is hypocrisy writ large.

    This is a battle between misogynists. It’s nevertheless entertaining and a distraction from massive global violence.

    • sevenblue says:
      May 8, 2024 at 12:17 pm

      @Enthusiast, Kendrick isn’t attacking Drake’s blackness. That is the manipulative narrative Drake put out there. Kendrick sees Drake as a culture vulture. He doesn’t respect the culture he is imitating and making money of. Kendrick refers to Drake’s son as a black man in his song and calls him a King. There are other biracial and non American rappers Kendrick has no issue with. It is the fake persona of Drake that Kendrick is criticizing.

    • Onemoretime says:
      May 8, 2024 at 4:23 pm

      This was not about Drake being biracial. It’s about him cosplaying black American culture, Caribbean culture, black UK culture. He’s a culture vulture, he is also a black man we all know that. He wears AA culture like a custom & takes it off when he’s off to the next culture to colonize. There are so many artist whose careers were derailed by Drake stealing their songs, images etc..
      J Cole is also biracial, so is Doja Cat no one called them out because they are them genuine selfs unlike Aubrey.
      The one example of him stealing is The Weekend, he doesn’t see it for Drake because he stole the Weekends work. That man has no scruples.

  7. Chantal1 says:
    May 8, 2024 at 12:04 pm

    As I stated in the other post, UMG has a $400MILLION deal with Drake. UMG also has some of the worlds biggest artists. Kendrick makes them money, but not like Drake (who releases music frequently) and until Not Like Us, most of the industry was putting their money on Drake. K won a Pulitzer and writes his own raps. Drake is known to use ghostwriters. And until this week, just about everyone in the industry underestimated K. After Drake dropped Family Matters, he and most others thought he won. Then K dropped Meet the Grahams (Drake’s name is Aubrey Drake Graham) and Not Like Us, proving his versatility by releasing the latter as a danceable diss track, something he’s not known for, while Drake is known for club hits. Drake’s good guy reputation, has taken a huge hit so I can believe that UMG is in full damage control mode to protect their $400m investment. He’s been baiting K for years and I’m a firm believer in the adages “don’t start none (mess), won’t be none” and “be careful what you wish for”.

  8. Fifty-50 says:
    May 8, 2024 at 12:05 pm

    What I love is that UMG isn’t threatening Kendrick with a defamation suit. This is a rare case where you can prove that Kendrick made these claims as a premeditated attack with malicious intent. However, in my opinion, UMG CANNOT prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the FACTS of Kendrick’s allegations aren’t true. The internet is pulling up receipts everywhere, from videos to court filings of someone in Drake’s circle who pled guilty to human trafficking and served time. (Also any defamation suit would lead to a countersuit against Drake, which I assume they don’t want to go there.)

  9. sevenblue says:
    May 8, 2024 at 12:11 pm

    There is a list of rappers who publicly apologized to Kendrick after dissing him or winning an award against him. That is why it is a known joke that he is a boogeyman, hunting his enemies’ dreams if they act against him. Drake has been drunk with power for some time now, that’s why even if he was warned, he wouldn’t listen. It is obvious the industry gathered behind Kendrick, they are ready to see the Canadian rapper to fall, he disrespected too many people, while not possessing enough talent to justify it.

  10. Maeve says:
    May 8, 2024 at 12:24 pm

    I went down the rabbit hole on this over the weekend and it’s all very fascinating – Kendrick is positively Shakespearean in his ability to roundly destroy someone’s character by way of verse. Not Like Us is a stone cold bop, even for the British white lady of a certain age.

  11. concern fae says:
    May 8, 2024 at 1:06 pm

    I think Drake will be OK unless underage women start coming forward and talking on the record. With all the QAnon and “groomer” crap, calling someone a pedophile isn’t enough. More people don’t think Drake is cool than did before, but he was never cool.

    But my opinion doesn’t matter, I’m in the dance music has become cleaning the house music stage of life.

  12. poppedbubble says:
    May 8, 2024 at 1:22 pm

    Removing the copyright so creators can make their coin? That is someone who isn’t afraid to share the wealth and I love it. As another commenter said, I wouldn’t be surprised if there isn’t some angst from the execs about losing money with the copyright removed, but imo it’s very shortsighted because the songs are going to get even MORE play and be in the news even longer. The should easily recoup what they’ve lost.

    I have enjoyed reading about the saga here. Keep it up.

    Now do one about that asshat Brian McKnight please!!!

  13. Erica says:
    May 8, 2024 at 10:55 pm

    It seems like you are clueless on this topic. Like what was said, Kendrick never attacked Drake for being mixed. It was for not being about the culture and using black Americans and black people and culture to profit off of . Example Drake keeps making derogatory comments about black American being slaves and he has do nothing for black people.

    Another example Drake made a remake that Kendrick raps like he’s trying to set slaves free like that it’s a bad thing. Only someone like Candace Owens would see that as a negative

    Kendrick’s fiancé’s mom is half black and she has a black father so she is mostly black and she grew up with Kendrick in Compton and a part of black culture which Drake was not.