The headline-making rap beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake last summer spilled over into the legal world when the latter filed a lawsuit against his own record label, Universal Music Group . The “Hotline Bling” rapper accused the company of defamation over its distribution and promotion of K. Dot’s “Not Like Us,” and after a lengthy journey of motions and disputes, a judge has decided to officially throw the case out .

“The recording was published as part of a heated public feud, in which both participants exchanged progressively caustic, inflammatory insults and accusations,” U.S. District Judge Jeannette Varga explained in a filing yesterday (Oct. 9). “Republication cannot transform Lamar’s statement of opinion into UMG’s statement of fact… That the Recording can only

See Full Page