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Drake and iHeartMedia Reach Settlement in ‘Not Like Us’ Airplay Dispute
🕑 Added 2025-03-03 16:05:45 +0000 UTCTL;DR: Drake has settled his legal dispute with Texas-based iHeartMedia over alleged illegal payments from Universal Music Group (UMG) to boost radio airplay for Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us. The settlement terms were not disclosed, and iHeartMedia declined to comment.
However, Drake’s claims against UMG remain active, with a hearing scheduled on their motion to dismiss his lawsuit. He has also filed a separate defamation lawsuit in New York, accusing UMG of promoting false allegations about him through Not Like Us.
Meanwhile, the FCC is investigating iHeartMedia over concerns that it may be coercing artists into performing at its festivals in exchange for radio airplay.
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Drake has reached a settlement with Texas-based iHeartMedia in his ongoing legal dispute over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” according to court records.
In November, Drake filed a legal petition in Bexar County, Texas, where San Antonio is located, alleging that iHeartMedia had received illegal payments from Universal Music Group to boost radio airplay for “Not Like Us.” UMG is the parent record label for both Drake and Lamar.
The petition, a precursor to a potential lawsuit, had sought depositions from corporate representatives of both companies.
In a court document filed Thursday, attorneys for Drake said the rapper and iHeartMedia had “reached an amicable resolution of the dispute” but did not offer any other information.
“We are pleased that the parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to both sides, and have no further comment on this matter,” Drake’s legal team said in a statement.
In an email Friday, iHeartMedia declined to comment on the settlement.
The claims against UMG remain active, and a hearing on a motion by UMG’s lawyers to dismiss the petition was scheduled to be held Wednesday in a San Antonio courtroom.
Drake has alleged UMG engaged in “irregular and inappropriate business practices” to get radio airplay for “Not Like Us.” The petition also alleges that UMG knew “the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.”
An email to a UMG representative seeking comment was not immediately answered.
In January, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit in federal court in New York City against UMG over what he alleges are false allegations of pedophilia made in “Not Like Us.” Lamar is not named in the lawsuit.
The feud between Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner who headlined the Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 9, is among the biggest in hip-hop in recent years.
The Federal Communications Commission sent a letter Monday to iHeartMedia’s CEO and chairman, Robert Pittman, saying the commission is looking into whether the audio company is forcing musicians to perform at its May country music festival in Austin for reduced pay in exchange for favorable airplay of their songs on iHeart radio stations.
“We look forward to demonstrating to the Commission how performing at the iHeartCountry Festival – or declining to do so – has no bearing on our stations’ airplay,” iHeart Media said in a statement. “We do not make any overt or covert agreements about airplay with artists performing at our events.”
Comments
Shon Ro
Quick overview of the situation: Drake has been in disagreements with SEVERAL rappers/singers and people in general...Pusha T, Common, Pharrell, the Weeknd, Asap Rocky (Rihanna), and Alexis Ohanian (Serena Williams husband) to name a few. Kendrick isn't lying about Drake...he's a poet/storyteller so it's creative but he's mentioning the industry rumors (GROOMING young girls like Billie Eilish when she was 17 and Millie Bobby Brown when she was 14) that have been going for a while because he has inside knowledge about him and his associates: Partynextdoor, Chubbs, Baka. This is just like the rumors on Diddy and R Kelly that were ignored until after they were convicted. If anything, he might be saving Drake from falling into the same behavior before it's too late. There's no denying that Drake has hit songs, but after Pusha T revealed he had a secret son, Drake doubled down on misogny with Certified Lover Boy (2021). Then when Beyonce released Act 1: Renaissance in 2022 (all House Music as a tribute to her uncle) Drake wrote one of her songs and used that inside knowledge to release his House album 'Honestly Nevermind' before her, which upset a lot of people. He continued the misogyny with 'For All the Dogs' and truly, Kendrick is speaking up for many people, especially women that were harmed by Drake. A quiet settlement sounds like trying to save face. Of course people can enjoy whatever they want to enjoy, but I hope everyone understands that Kendrick really is speaking for the majority in the culture that recognizes a dangerous pattern of 9f behavior. Even his Super bowl message was related to racial inequality, our country being divided and standing up for what is right despite the consequences.
layle1
I age myself here, but I’ve always considered Drake as “rap-light”. Partly because he transitioned from being a successful pop singer. He never felt really authentic. That’s why it’s angered me to no end the backlash BTS’ rap line gets as not being authentic rap. During Suga’s US tour, for example, he broke a number of concert records that were disputed.
