We all heard it, and we all sang along. I mean, it has over a billion plays on Spotify. Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, Not Like Us, threw some serious shade. And now Drake is suing his record label because of it. When it comes to rap beefs, the drama doesn’t always just stay on the mic. Sometimes, it spills over into the courtroom. 

Back on Wednesday, the 15th, Aubrey Drake Graham filed a suit against Universal Music Group (UMG), the label backing both rappers, saying their release and promotion of Lamar’s track dissing him, which includes allegations of paedophilia, amounted to defamation and harassment.

To make matters worse, Drake says the visuals on Lamar’s album include an image of his house, which he considers a dangerous invasion of privacy. 

Their relationship wasn’t always like this

At one point, believe it or not, they were friends. In fact, their shared interest in rap was the centre of it. Back in 2011, Drake featured Lamar on his Take Care album, and the pair toured together in 2012, solidifying their status as collaborators on the rise. But by 2023, the friendship began to sour.

Drake’s track First Person Shooter, featuring J. Cole, sparked the feud. Cole praised Lamar in the song, naming him one of the “big three” alongside himself and Drake. Lamar did not like that. Lamar fired back in March 2024 with a scorching verse on Like That, dismissing the big three narrative with this verse: “F*** the big three, it’s just big me.”

From there, diss tracks flew, with Not Like Us becoming Lamar’s most notable hit, climbing to the top of the charts and getting five Grammy nominations. And while rap feuds thrive on hard-hitting lyrics, Drake argues Lamar’s track crossed the line. Diss tracks are one thing. Allegations of this scale are another.

UMG denies Drake’s allegations, calling the claims “illogical.” “We have not and do not engage in defamation,” said the company.

Rap feuds aren’t anything new

Drake vs. Lamar joins a long list of iconic rap beefs that have shaped hip-hop history. From the tragic rivalry between Tupac Shakur and The Notorious B.I.G. to the lyrical slugfest of Jay-Z and Nas, these clashes have given us some of the most memorable tracks and drama of all time.

Even female rap heavyweights have thrown their fair share of shade. Remember Cardi B’s infamous shoe-throwing incident at Nicki Minaj during New York Fashion Week? The fashion and feud worlds collided, proving that rap beefs know no bounds.

Mzansi rappers are guilty of this too

The South African rap scene has seen a fair number of feuds. Famously, the rivalry between the late Kiernan Jarryd Forbes (AKA ) and Cassper Nyovest shook the nation. It began around 2014 when Nyovest claimed his hit single Doc Shebeleza was the biggest song in the country, a statement that didn’t sit well with AKA. This sparked a series of clapbacks, with AKA releasing the diss track Composure, aimed directly at Cassper. Cassper retaliated with Dust 2 Dust, a track that aired personal grievances and took shots at AKA’s relationships and financial decisions.

The tension escalated further, reportedly leading to physical altercations, including a slap that Nyovest allegedly received from AKA. 

With the way things are going, perhaps a feud in the near future will knock this one off the pedestal as South Africa’s most famous.

What’s next in Drake’s legal battle?

Well, the Grammys are in a couple of weeks and Lamar’s Not Like Us is nominated for five of them, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Whether this legal spat ends in reconciliation or deepens the divide between Drake and Lamar remains to be seen. It’s a waiting game.

One thing is clear: the world of hip-hop never runs out of drama or diss tracks.