Two
joke
rappers
will
go
down
in
history
for
the
way
they’ve
changed
rap
history:
Weird
Al
Yankovic
for
his
Amish-themed
reinterpretation
of
Gangsta’s
Paradise
and
Aubrey
“Drake”
Graham’s
repeated
attempts
to
crawl
out
of
the
career
hole
he
landed
himself
in
after
he
asked
a
Pulitzer
Prize-winning
rapper
to
call
him
a
pedophile
and
his
opponent
obliged.
Drake,
known
mostly
for
a
phenomenal
2009
mixtape,
hijacking
DRAM’s
Cha-Cha
to
morphing
it
into
hurtboy
anthem
Hotline
Bling
and
getting
charged
with
RICO
over
gambling
and
the
play
counts
of
his
songs,
wants
the
case
to
be
revisited
because
he
believes
that
the
outcome
prevents
rap
lyrics
from
ever
being
used
in
court.
Stereogum
has
coverage:
According
to
his
legal
team’s
60-page
document,
Kendrick’s
lyrics
state
as
an
“unambiguous
matter
of
fact”
that
Drake
is
a
“certified
pedophile,”
and
Universal
“relentlessly”
promoted
the
song,
causing
Drake
significant
harm.
“The
court
effectively
created
an
unprecedented
and
overbroad
categorical
rule
that
statements
in
rap
diss
tracks
can
never
constitute
statements
of
fact,”
his
attorney
writes.
UMG’s
response
to
the
brief
is
due
March
27.
Imagine
doing
all
of
this
legal
work
to
get
a
ruling
that’s
something
like
“Yeah,
it
probably
is
a
little
broad
to
suggest
that
rap
lyrics
can
never
be
used
in
court.
That
said,
you
still
weren’t
defamed
and
that
video
of
you
openly
lusting
over
and
kissing
a
girl
you
knew
was
17
on
stage
when
you
were
24
is
still
cringe
as
hell.”
I’m
sure
there’s
a
more
judicious
way
to
state
this,
like
when
Judge
Jeannette
Vargas
described
the
allegedly
defamatory
statements
as
being
“nonactionable
opinion”
instead
of
the
far
less
judge-like
assessment
that
“The
Boy”
got
his
feelings
hurt
in
a
poem
competition
where
determining
that
a
thing
rhymes
is
more
important
than
determining
if
a
thing
is
true.
For
the
sake
of
argument,
imagine
the
legal
hellscape
the
rap
community
would
be
in
if
a
case
held
that
the
lyrics
were
presumed
truthful?
Each
and
every
artist
would
have
to
put
out
a
Lil
Tecca-styled
Verified
to
confirm
that
they
were
actually
just
joshing.
Mention
your
Audemars
one
too
many
times?
The
IRS
might
come
a-knocking.
Is
that
world
really
preferable
to
admitting
you
lost,
Drake?
Not
sure
which
is
the
crazier
gamble:
whatever
he’s
doing
with
Anita
Max
Win
or
his
repeated
double
or
nothing
bet
on
this
lawsuit.
Drake
Appeals
Dismissal
Of
Not
Like
Us
Lawsuit
[Stereogum]
Earlier:
Kendrick
Really
Is
What
The
Culture
Feeling:
Drake
Lost
The
Rap
Battle
AND
The
Court
Battle
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.