‘Drake lost a rap battle’: Universal files motion to dismiss rapper’s ‘misguided’ lawsuit

Drake’s attorneys accuse Universal of being ‘a greedy company’ that is ‘finally being held responsible for profiting from dangerous misinformation’.

Universal Music Group have moved to dismiss Drake’s defamation suit, characterising it as “a misguided attempt” by the Canadian rapper to “salve his wounds” after he “lost a rap battle” with rival Kendrick Lamar.

In the motion, filed on Monday in the US district court for the southern district of New York, Universal Music Group (UMG), which represents both artists, claimed that Drake “lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated.

Continue reading...

UK pop stars fail to reach global Top 10 albums and singles chart for first time since 2003

Global chart dominated by US acts including Benson Boone, Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish and Sabrina Carpenter, with K-pop bands also strong

British pop stars have failed to reach the worldwide annual charts of the year’s Top 10 biggest singles and albums for the first time in more than two decades.

In 2022, UK acts such as Harry Styles and Glass Animals made up seven of the 20 entries in the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) list. This year, the leading UK act was producer and singer Artemas, for I Like the Way You Kiss Me.

Taylor Swift – The Tortured Poets Department

Billie Eilish – Hit Me Hard and Soft

Sabrina Carpenter – Short n’ Sweet

Enhypen – Romance: Untold

SZA – SOS

Seventeen – Spill the Feels

Morgan Wallen – One Thing at a Time

Seventeen – 17 Is Right Here

Noah Kahan – Stick Season

Stray Kids – ATE

Benson Boone – Beautiful Things

Sabrina Carpenter – Espresso

Teddy Swims – Lose Control

Billie Eilish – Birds of a Feather

Shaboozey – A Bar Song (Tipsy)

Hozier – Too Sweet

Post Malone – I Had Some Help ft Morgan Wallen

Kendrick Lamar – Not Like Us

Taylor Swift – Cruel Summer

Noah Kahan – Stick Season

Continue reading...

Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar lead Grammy awards in aftermath of LA fires

An unusual ceremony paid tribute to and raised money for those affected by the California wildfires while giving Beyoncé her first album of the year

Beyoncé and Kendrick Lamar ruled the Grammys during a night that also paid tribute to those affected by the California wildfires.

The night’s biggest prize, for album of the year, went to Beyoncé for Cowboy Carter, the first time she has won the award. It was presented by members of the Los Angeles country fire department in one of many of the night’s tributes to those affected by the wildfires. The ceremony took place at the Crypto.com arena in LA.

Continue reading...

Drake withdraws legal petition over Kendrick Lamar diss track

Drake had alleged Universal Music Group and Spotify each manipulated the popularity of Lamar’s track Not Like Us

Drake has withdrawn a legal challenge he made against his own label, Universal Music Group (UMG), and Spotify, alleging they artificially inflated the popularity of a Kendrick Lamar diss track about him.

UMG and Spotify were accused of trying to “manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves”. Lawyers for the rapper had claimed that UMG paid influencers and radio stations to play the track, Not Like Us, which topped the US charts and proved to be the hammer blow in the Drake-Lamar feud between March and May last year.

Continue reading...

Drake claims UMG and Spotify ‘artificially inflated’ Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us

Feud escalates as rapper’s lawyers file two petitions alleging Universal Music Group and streaming giant conspired while also accusing them of defamation

Drake has launched two legal actions against Universal Music Group and Spotify, alleging they conspired to artificially inflate interest in Kendrick Lamar’s diss track about him, Not Like Us, while suppressing his own music, as well as accusing them of defamation.

In a petition filed to the New York supreme court on Monday, attorneys for Drake’s company Frozen Moments LLC accused UMG and the streaming service of having “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves”, using various tactics to make Lamar’s song more popular.

Continue reading...

Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss track debuts at number one in the US

Rapper’s scathing song Not Like Us, from his headline-grabbing rap beef with Drake, becomes his fourth Billboard chart-topper

Kendrick Lamar has won the culture-consuming rap beef with Drake, at least as far as Billboard hits are concerned, as his diss track Not Like Us debuted at No 1 on the US Hot 100.

The scathing track, which alleges that the Canadian hit-maker is a “certified pedophile”, is Lamar’s fourth No 1 song, after a feature on Future and Metro Boomin’s Like That earlier this year, 2017’s Humble and his verse on Taylor Swift’s 2015 track Bad Blood.

Continue reading...

Drake denies allegations by Kendrick Lamar of underage sex and harbouring secret child

Drake says ‘I feel disgusted’ by allegations, as enmity between rap superstars deepens following weekend flurry of diss tracks

Drake has denied allegations of child sex offences and of him harbouring a secret child, both levelled at him by Kendrick Lamar in recent days.

The enmity between the rap superstars has escalated over a series of diss tracks in the past few weeks, culminating in a flurry of activity during the weekend with three tracks by Lamar and two by Drake.

Continue reading...

Kendrick Lamar responds to Drake with diss track Euphoria in escalating feud

Euphoria is the latest in the hip-hop heavyweights’ fight via songs, which has now drawn in some of the biggest names in rap

Kendrick Lamar has released a new diss track against Drake titled Euphoria – the latest in a long-running feud between the two hip-hop heavyweights which was reignited earlier this year and has since ballooned into a “civil war” among rap’s upper echelons.

The song, which shares a name with the HBO series on which Drake serves as executive producer, was released on Lamar’s YouTube channel on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Paul McCartney and Kendrick Lamar to headline resurgent Glastonbury

As the festival returns from Covid-enforced hiatus, over half of the acts announced so far feature women

Paul McCartney, Kendrick Lamar and Olivia Rodrigo have been announced as among the stars performing at this summer’s Glastonbury festival.

Out of the 89 names announced so far, 48 are women or acts that include female artists, meeting festival co-organiser Emily Eavis’s previously stated intention for Glastonbury to achieve gender parity on its bill. “Our future has to be 50/50,” she told the BBC in 2020.

Continue reading...

Super Bowl: the ads, the music and everything but the football – live

While the game rages on, there are several major ads and movie trailers and a much-anticipated half-time show from some hip-hop and R&B legends

After the success of last month’s Scream, the legacy sequel – aka the one that brings back the old to mingle with the new – continues with force this year with our first real look at the inevitable greatest hits sequel Jurassic World: Dominion. The last film brought back BD Wong and a cameo-ing Jeff Goldblum to join Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard but this time they return with both Sam Neill and Laura Dern, an exciting prospect for hardcore fans. The trailer has some promising moments but there’s an awful lot here to be juggled – despite the familiar faces, it’ll be the lesser-known DeWanda Wise who leads – so whether all balls can be kept up in the air remains to be seen.

Continue reading...

Kendrick Lamar becomes first rapper to win Pulitzer music prize

Fox News star Sean Hannity admits he was Michael Cohen's secret client and 'may have given him ten bucks' for talking about 'real estate' - but DENIES the lawyer who paid Stormy Daniels for her silence did ANYTHING similar for him White woman, 72, is arrested for attacking a PREGNANT soldier in a restaurant during a row over a parking spot and calling her a 'gay black b***h' U.S. and UK warn Russia is hacking Internet routers and could launch cyber attacks against millions of laptops and phones - and even 'critical infrastructure' like POWER GRIDS California BANS National Guard from following Trump's orders at the Mexican border telling troops not to fly drones or even fix Border Patrol vehicles EXCLUSIVE: 'We went at it like she just didn't exist.'

Plenty of fire and fury at 60th annual Grammy Awards

Just as the Hollywood award shows this year have been dominated by the Time's Up movement, the 60th annual Grammy Awards became a platform for artists to address sexual harassment and abuse, but also President Donald Trump, immigration and gun violence. Artists arrived on the red carpet with white roses to show support for female equality, but others skewered Trump or criticized his administration's treatment of immigrants with the Statue of Liberty serving as a backdrop.

The Latest: Bruno Mars wins album of the year Grammy Award

The rapper was nominated for eight Grammy nominations on Tuesday, Nov. 28. Four of the five album of the y... . FILE - In this Sunday, Aug. 27, 2017 file photo, Kendrick Lamar accepts the award for video of the year for "HUMBLE."

Songs by Jay-Z, Harry Styles among Obama’s favorites of 2017

Jay-Z, Harry Styles, Kendrick Lamar, U2 and Chris Stapleton were just some of the artists responsible for Barack Obama's favorite songs of the year. The former president shared an eclectic list of his favorite songs and books of 2017 Sunday on his Facebook page, including Jay-Z's "Family Feud" and Styles' "Sign of the Times."

Chance honoured by Obama, a 90s nostalgia rules at BET Awards

DJ Khaled, from left, Quavo, Lil Wayne, and Chance The Rapper perform "I'm the One" at the BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on Sunday, June 25, 2017, in Los Angeles. The 2017 BET Awards had stumbles, from technical problems during a performance to going well over its planned three-and-a-half hour time slot during the live show held Sunday in Los Angeles.