A federal judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar 's "Not Like Us," the megahit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake.

Drake sued Universal Music Group — both his and Lamar's record label — over "Not Like Us," saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed.

Judge Jeannette Vargas didn't immediately decide after a lively hearing Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court.

"Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialized and nuanced to these lyrics."

Neither artist attended the hearing.

The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024 biggest songs — the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make this winter's Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever.

Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a colonizer" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap.

"Not Like Us" also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" — implications that he rejects.

Drake's suit says that the... Read More