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The official account of American publishing company Merriam Webster shared a post on X in jest, clarifying that rapper Drake did not sue them. Posted on November 26, 2024, this tweet came amid the Toronto rapper's ongoing lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify regarding Kendrick Lamar's diss track, Not Like Us.
Merriam Webster's official account took a supposed jibe at Drake a.k.a Drizzy, writing:
"The rumors are NOT true. Drake is not suing us because Kendrick used English words in "Not Like Us.""
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Fans took to X to react to Merriam Webster's tweet, with many appreciating the account user's humor. One X user wrote:
"Ayooo whoever runs this account deserves a raise."
"I would still lawyer up if I were you," another fan joked.
"whoever is running this account actually cooked," a user added.
"Hey @MerriamWebster could you define “squabble up”?," another netizen jibed.
Fans continued to joke about Drizzy's lawsuit and reacted to Webster's tweet:
"Not Merriam Webster dunking on him 💀💀," a fan chimed in.
"This is so embarrassing for Drake omg lmfao," another netizen quipped.
"Kenfolk run this account," a user commented.
Some of the other reactions were:
"2024 is wild—imagine explaining this tweet to someone from 2010: ‘No, Merriam-Webster isn’t being sued by Drake because Kendrick used words. Also, yes, this is news," a fan opined.
"A Kendrick stan runs a dictionary site! I have seen it all! I don't recall seeing him mention Merriam-Webster on these legal documents! How much is UMG paying you?," a user asked.
The context of Merriam Webster's joke was Drake's lawsuit filed against UMG and Spotify on Monday (November 25) at the New York Supreme Court. Billboard reported that Drizzy's company, Frozen Moments LLC, claimed in the lawsuit that Spotify and UMG allegedly indulged in a "scheme to ensure" Kendrick Lamar's diss track about him, Not Like Us, "broke through" on various streaming platforms.
Drake further claimed that UMG and Spotify allegedly used unfair means to increase the number of streams for Lamar's track. UMG denied all of the rapper's allegations in an official statement shared on the same day (November 25).
Drake's ongoing legal battle with UMG and Spotify explored
On Monday, November 25, Drake's company, Frozen Moments LLP filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group and the streaming platform Spotify, accusing them of using dishonest means to boost the streams of Kendrick Lamar's diss-track, Not Like Us.
It is one of the popular diss tracks by Kendrick Lamar seemingly aimed at Champagne Papi during their highly-publicized feud between March and May 2024. Lamar dropped the rap song on May 4, 2024, hours after his previous diss track, Meet the Grahams.
Lamar's Not Like Us has been on the Billboard Hot 100 for 29 weeks and ranked number one on the list two times. As of November 26, the track is still on No 19 on the list. The song has garnered 914 million streams on Spotify.
In his lawsuit, Drake claimed that UMG “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services" to inflate the popularity of Lamar's song by "using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.” The rapper alleged that UMG had a "long-standing, symbiotic business relationship" with Spotify and offered them special licensing rates for Lamar's popular track.
"UMG's schemes to artificially inflate the popularity of 'Not Like Us' were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope (Records) to maximize their own profits," the lawsuit added.
Drizzy's lawsuit further stated that UMG reportedly fired employees who were "loyal" to him "in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes." On November 26, Drake filed another lawsuit against UMG, stating that the company could have allegedly stopped the release of Kendrick Lamar's track. The rapper claimed that the song “falsely accused him of being a s*x offender."
In Not Like Us, Lamar did mention Drizzy by the name, supposedly accusing him of pedophilia and s*x offenses. He rapped:
"Say, Drake, I hear you like 'em young/ You better not ever go to cell block one/ To any bi*ch that talk to him and they in love/Just make sure you hide your lil' sister from him."
According to the second lawsuit obtained by Forbes and Billboard, the Toronto-based rapper alleged UMG knew that Lamar was placing false allegations on him while using words like "certified pedophile" and "predator" in Not Like Us, but the company still released it.
In an official statement released via USA Today on November 25, Universal Music Group denied all allegations by Drake in his lawsuit. The music corporation's statement read:
"The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear."
Drizzy is associated with UMG's subsidiary Republic Records, while Kendrick Lamar is signed by UMG's Interscope Records, as per the UMG official website.
