Global rap icon Drake has taken his legal fight over Kendrick Lamar’s viral diss track “Not Like Us” to the next level, officially filing an appeal after a U.S. federal court dismissed his defamation lawsuit earlier this year.

The original case, filed against Universal Music Group (UMG), centered on Drake’s claim that the song contained serious allegations presented as fact rather than artistic expression. While the district court ruled that the lyrics fell under protected opinion within the context of a rap battle, Drake’s legal team strongly disagrees with that interpretation.

In the newly filed appeal, Drake argues that the court’s decision creates a troubling precedent by granting diss tracks near-total immunity from defamation claims. According to his attorneys, the ruling overlooks how “Not Like Us” was aggressively promoted and consumed by a global audience far beyond traditional hip-hop circles, blurring the line between exaggeration and factual assertion.

The appeal stresses that the lyrics allegedly caused tangible reputational damage and emotional distress, particularly given the scale of the song’s commercial success and online reach. Drake’s team insists that artistic context should not automatically excuse statements that could be interpreted as factual claims about criminal behavior.

UMG, meanwhile, has stood by the dismissal, maintaining that diss records are a long-established element of hip-hop culture and are widely understood as rhetorical and competitive rather than literal. The label has also warned that reopening the case could threaten creative freedom across the music industry.

The dispute has sparked intense debate among artists, legal experts, and fans, raising broader questions about where free expression ends and legal accountability begins in modern music. As the appeals court reviews the case, its eventual decision could have lasting implications for how rap lyrics are treated under U.S. defamation law.