The Kendrick Lamar and Drake beef continues to rage on in the hip-hop world, whether it’s out in a festival crowd or in a courtroom. After this week’s latest hearing in the UMG “Not Like Us” defamation lawsuit from Drizzy on Monday (July 14), we got a key update.
XXL obtained court documents on Friday (July 18) that show both Drizzy and UMG’s potential list of witnesses for the case. Drake’s potential witness list features several high-profile names – more specifically, 63 individuals and entities – who could have important information to offer here. These include The Boy himself, UMG’s CEO Lucian Grainge, and various corporations like Spotify, TikTok, the NFL, and more label employees.
On the other hand, UMG’s potential witness list is much smaller at nine, but it includes Kendrick Lamar’s manager Anthony Saleh, the 6ix God, and Kendrick himself. As such, both feuding rappers might get a subpoena to testify in court. The Compton lyricist is not a defendant in this lawsuit. We will see how many of these names show up, and how many of them the court will allow a summons for.
Drake UMG Lawsuit
Feb 9, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Recording artist Kendrick Lamar performs during the halftime show of Super Bowl LIX between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Kansas City Chiefs at Ceasars Superdome. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Other key developments regarding potential witnesses might create more problems for both sides, though. Drake reportedly hired private investigators in an attempt to locate and serve Kojo Menne Asamoah. His legal team claims that Asamoah engaged in “covert tactics to promote the Defamatory Material.”
This lawsuit centers around the claim that UMG defamed the Toronto superstar by publishing and distributing Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” diss track amidst their battle. In addition, the legal pursuit also levied allegations of unfair practices, commercial manipulation, performance boosting, and breaches of contract.
All the while, Kendrick Lamar’s still raking in achievements, and Drake is on top of the world with new music and performances to hype up. So even amid this courtroom battle heating up, they are still two of the biggest artists in the world.
We will see how these potential witnesses pan out and whether or not more key developments in this lawsuit will emerge soon. For now, it seems like anything could happen in court.