Drake’s legal battle over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” returns before federal judges this December.
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has set December 4 for oral arguments in Drake’s challenge to the dismissal of his lawsuit against UMG Recordings. A three-judge panel will hear from both sides before deciding whether the case deserves another life.
The dispute dates back to January 2025, when Drake sued UMG over its role in releasing and promoting Lamar’s Grammy-winning diss track.
That case hit a wall in October 2025. Judge Jeannette Vargas dismissed Drake’s claims after concluding that the song’s disputed statements were protected opinion rather than actionable defamation. She also found that listeners would not reasonably understand “Not Like Us” as making objective factual claims about Drake.
Drake appealed months later.
His lawyers argued in a January filing that the lower court had created a “dangerous categorical rule” suggesting rap diss tracks could never support a defamation claim.
UMG has pushed back hard, arguing in its response that “a rap diss track signals, if not shouts, opinion not fact.”
Drake’s team replied in April that the judge improperly relied on material outside the pleadings and drew conclusions against him.
December 4