What It Would Take for Drake and Kendrick to Sue Over Diss Tracks

A lyrical feud that began simmering between megastar rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar two months ago has, within the past short week, escalated into all-out war, with Drake suggesting in his latest releases that Kendrick tried to cover up allegations of committing violence against one of his partners. Kendrick, on the other hand, has perhaps gone even further in suggesting that Drake is a pedophile who keeps “sex offenders...on a monthly allowance” at his self-founded record label OVO Sounds.

And these are just a small proportion of the bombs that Kendrick and Drake (real name Aubrey Drake Graham) have lobbed at one another via the six new songs dropped since April 30 (four are by Kendrick; two by Drake).

Rap stars publicly beefing with one another in the form of diss tracks—songs written exclusively to criticize or insult a rival—is a well-established tradition, and the best diss tracks can be measured by how willing the artist is to really go there.

For example, 2Pac landed a punishing blow to The Notorious B.I.G. with “Hit ’Em Up” in 1996. The West Coast star reminded his former friend, “Biggie, remember when I used to let you sleep on the couch?” before delivering the knockout punch: “You claim to be a player, but I fucked your wife.” Biggie was allegedly so hurt by the song, he “cried like a baby” upon hearing it for the first time, record executive Lance “Un” Rivera claimed in a 2017 interview.

But the seriousness of the exchanged claims—especially the ones Kendrick has made about about Drake—deployed in a matter of days in a series of increasingly dark takedowns, makes the battle between the two superstars feel more likely to do lasting damage to Drake’s reputation than your average rapper-on-rapper power struggle. But so far, at least, there doesn’t seem to be any concrete proof to back up any of the allegations being made.

Already, Drake has pushed back against Kendrick’s accusations in his latest song, which he released on Sunday. Drake raps: “I feel disgusted, I’m too respected / If I was fucking young girls I would’ve been arrested / I’m way too famous for this shit you just suggested.”

As such, could the salacious allegations Kendrick included in his shots at Drake prompt the latter to potentially pursue retaliation in the form of a defamation lawsuit? For that matter, could Kendrick sue Drake for implying he’s committed acts of physical abuse?

“The number one thing you have to prove as a defamation plaintiff is that the statements were false,” internet litigation expert and attorney David D. Lin tells The Daily Beast. “So, you know, Kendrick Lamar can say anything negative and disparaging and hurtful he wants to about Drake, as long as it’s true.”

First Amendment attorney James Chadwick also tells us, “One more big hurdle that either of them would have to clear in bringing a defamation claim is what’s known as actual malice, which is a burden imposed on the plaintiff in a defamation case.”

If Drake were to sue Kendrick, “he would have to prove that Kendrick either knew what he was saying was false, subjectively actually knew it was false, or acted with reckless disregard as to whether or not it was true,” Chadwick adds.

Plus, the fact that both rappers took their shots in song format wouldn’t necessarily be a hindrance to legal action. “There’s no automatic exemption from potential liability for expression in the context of an artistic performance,” Chadwick told Billboard in 2018.

However, proving defamation would necessitate either rapper being willing to expose the full extent of their private lives to legal evaluation. A court battle therefore seems fairly unlikely, given that this could only potentially increase levels of public scrutiny.

And yet, in a déjà vu-inducing callback to the notorious Pusha-T diss track “The Story of Adidon,” in which Pusha chastised Drake for “hiding a child,” Kendrick explosively implied in his new track “Meet the Grahams” that his rival also has a secret daughter in addition to his 6-year-old son, Adonis.

Hypothetically, if such a daughter does exist, Kendrick could have exposed himself to legal liability on the grounds of invasion of privacy, Chadwick explains.

“Not so much of Drake’s privacy, although that’s conceivable that he might assert such a claim,” Chadwick clarified. “Would [Lamar] be in invasion of his child’s privacy to disclose that the child was the quote-unquote hidden child of Drake? I don’t know the answer to that question, honestly, but it’s a claim that might be made on behalf of a child.”

Drake and Kendrick Lamar Threaten to Go Nuclear in Newest Diss Tracks

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