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A court official has dismissed the rapper Drake’s defamation lawsuit targeting the music corporation over Kendrick Lamar’s song Not Like Us.

Judge the court’s judge decided that the rapper’s lyrics, which claimed the artist and his crew of being "pedophiles", were "protected opinion" and could not be deemed libelous.

Drake filed the legal action in early this year, accusing UMG, the record label representing both artists, of defamatory conduct by permitting the track to be published and marketed, saying it disseminated a "untrue and harmful story".

The artist’s spokesperson said he intended to appeal the ruling. Universal Music Group expressed it was satisfied with the result and was eager to resuming its work with the musician.

Background of the Hip-Hop Feud

The diss song, which was first dropped in May 2024, was widely seen as the final strike in an continuing feud between the competing artists.

It has become the biggest hit of the rapper’s musical journey, having received five Grammys and being one of the most-discussed moments of his Super Bowl performance in February.

In a 38-page order, the judge called the row between the artists "the most notorious hip-hop feud in the genre's history".

"The artists' series of diss tracks was a 'verbal conflict' that was the subject of substantial media scrutiny and online discourse," the judge wrote.

"While the claim that plaintiff is a pedophile is certainly a serious one, the wider backdrop of a intense musical rivalry, with incendiary language and offensive accusations hurled by each artist, would not incline the average audience to believe that 'Not Like Us' imparts truthful statements about the claimant."

She additionally observed that, in an earlier song, the artist had "challenged Lamar to make the paedophilia accusations" that featured in Not Like Us.

On the track Taylor Made Freestyle, the rapper used the AI-generated voice of the late rapper to suggest strategies on how to prevail in the feud.

"Talk about him likin' young girls, that's a gift from me," the track proposed.

"It is in this context in which such lyrics as 'Hey Drake, I’ve heard you prefer them young' must be assessed," wrote the court.

"The similarity in the phrasing suggests strongly that this lyric is a direct callback to the artist’s own words in the prior song."

'An Affront to Artists'

Drake, whose legal name is Aubrey Graham, did not name Lamar in the legal filing.

His lawyers alleged UMG of initiating "an effort to generate a popular song" out of a release that made the "false factual allegation that the artist is a criminal paedophile, and to suggest that the audience should turn to vigilante justice in retaliation".

Ruling against the plaintiff, the judge said listeners would not expect "truthful accounts" from a musical attack "replete with vulgar language, insults, violent implications, and figurative and hyperbolic language."

She pointed out that Drake himself had used comparable rhetoric, quoting a lyric in which the star "heavily" suggested that "his opponent is a spouse beater", and a separate instance where Drake "raps that he 'was told' that one of his rival’s children may not be his biological offspring."

Concerning the track in question, the court said: "Even seemingly factual claims may assume the character of subjective views... when made in open discourse, intense arguments, or other circumstances in which an listener may expect the use of slurs, passionate language or hyperbole."

Responding to the rejection, a label representative said: "From the outset, this case was an affront to every creative and their creative expression and never should have been filed."

"We are satisfied with the judge’s ruling and are eager to resuming our partnership successfully marketing Drake's music and supporting his artistic path," the representative continued.

A representative for the musician said the artist intended to contest the ruling, "and we await the appellate court reviewing it".

Lamar has yet to comment on the case.