There are legal battles with Kendrick Lamar’s music, but he is not the defendant in the major case that has been drawing a lot of attention recently in various news headlines.
What’s Going on?
In 2024 Kendrick Lamar and Canadian rapper Drake’s dispute became worse. Kendrick Lamar’s most significant diss track is “Not Like Us,” which is widely popular and considered to be a career defining hit came out in May 2024. That song makes a Powerful and clear statements about Drake.
Drake sued Universal Music Group (UMG) but not to Kendrick Lamar, for slander in January 2025. He said that UMG put out and promoted “Not Like Us” despite the fact they knew it had false and damaging allegations to say about him.
The case was dismissed out by a U.S. federal judge in October 2025. The judge said that the lyrics in the dispute were “non-actionable opinion” in the context of a rap diss-battle, therefore they did not meet the legal bar for defamation.
There was a lawsuit on Kendrick Lamar’s music, but he was not listed as a defendant, and the case has been dismissed.
Facts you should know:
- The lawsuit was against UMG but not on Kendrick Lamar directly.
- The dispute was based on a rap battle and a diss track, not allegations of wrongdoing like crime or misconduct by Kendrick Lamar.
- The judge said that the average listener would see the track as hyperbole, or performance, not verified facts. So, as of this moment, Kendrick Lamar is not “getting sued” for any kind of defamation case.
Is it still worth watching:
- Canadian rapper Drake’s team has stated that they are planning to appeal, even though the case was dismissed.
- There are additional legal allegations on Kendrick Lamar, such a past copyright case in which an artist claimed that a song with him had sampling issues.
- The boundary between the “opinion” and “defamation case” is still a complex legal battle because the music industry and rap battles often use abusive languages.
Conclusion:
So when someone asking whether Kendrick Lamar being sued? or not? The answer is no, at least not as an accuser in the current lawsuit. The lawsuit was against his music company, and it was dismissed by the court.
There is no active, lawsuit against Kendrick Lamar himself in the defamation matter relating to that track, until new filings come out that citing him directly.
