Drake continues to find a lot of backlash and controversy in his path following his federal defamation lawsuit against his distributor Universal Music Group for releasing Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" diss track. With each passing day, the reactions extend beyond hardcore hip-hop fans and into more traditional publications and emerging media leaders, especially when it comes to more big-picture analysis. For example, a recent article from The Guardian posits the lack of successful precedent for a case like this, and also brings up the hypocrisy of Aubrey Graham using lyrics in court after his support of Young Thug, who faced similar scrutiny.
For one, this article from The Guardian points out one highly relevant defamation case in rap music that suggests Drake will have a very difficult time finding what he wants. This is the legal filing from Debbie Mathers against her son Eminem back in 1999, for which she sought $11 million for his lines about her drug use on The Slim Shady EP. The court only awarded her $25,000, which reportedly turned to $1,600 after legal and lawyer fees.
With this context in mind – plus other defamation cases orbiting around the culture – it's clear that defamation cases are incredibly tough to win for celebrities in such an expansive public eye. For Drake, who remains one of the biggest superstars in the music industry, it will clearly be an uphill battle, which is why people have their own theories as to why he launched this lawsuit. Perhaps this all only relates to his contract negotiations with UMG as a point of leverage, but even the most casual hip-hop listeners seem to believe that this will impact his reputation for the rest of his career.
Of course, a key point to emphasize is the cultural, historical, and artistic relevance of diss tracks and rap battles throughout hip-hop's 50-year-plus history, even if the specific starting point is up for debate. Although it seems very unlikely that Drake will prevail – and we're not here to minimize the negative events he faced in the wake of the beef – the media world understands how dangerous this could be as a tool for artists, labels, and litigators to suppress artistic expression.
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