Stephen A's Take: Stephen A discusses Drake's "Not Like Us" UMG lawsuit. - podcast episode cover

Stephen A's Take: Stephen A discusses Drake's "Not Like Us" UMG lawsuit.

Jan 16, 20258 min
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Episode description

Stephen A. Smith is a New York Times Bestselling Author, Executive Producer, host of ESPN's First Take, and co-host of NBA Countdown.

Support the show: http://www.youtube.com/@stephenasmith

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Transcript

Speaker 1

Let's get started with some news out of the entertainment industry, and it's something that we've touched on before, y'all.

Speaker 2

Drake, you know that brother.

Speaker 1

He's gone ahead and filed a lawsuit against his own record company, Universal Music Group for Kendrick Lamar's not Like Us. Attorneys for Drake say the song, which is aimed at the Canadian rapper, is an example of valuing quote corporate greed over the safety and well being.

Speaker 2

Of its artists end quote.

Speaker 1

Kendrick released not Like Us last summer after a series of disc tracks exchanged between the two artists in the spring.

Speaker 2

On the song, Lamar.

Speaker 1

Calls Drake a pedophile and accuses him of appropriating black culture.

Speaker 2

Again.

Speaker 1

Both artists are under Universal Music Group Umbrella. Here's a portion of the claims in the suit, written by Drake's attorney. They claim, you quote approved, published and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track that was intended to convey the specific, unmistakable and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in

response end quote. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm torn and I want to be very, very sensitive to this subject because I'm a product of the hip hop genre and what have you. I grew up in Hollis, Queens, New York City, listening to run DMC.

Speaker 2

They're from Hollis. Jam Master J, the late jam Master J.

Speaker 1

God Rest his soul was great friends with my late brother Bezu god Rest his soul.

Speaker 2

LL WHOJ grew.

Speaker 1

Up five minutes down a block on Farmers Boulevard. You know the joh Rules, the fitty sense of the world, and others from Queens. So for me, when I bring up hip hop culture, my initial response, which hasn't changed that much by the way, is.

Speaker 2

Go handle your business in that studio.

Speaker 1

See, Drake got sensitive with a lot of people when he went after DeMar DeRozan talking about you know what. You know he would not go for his jersey being hung in the rafters. You know when he was put off by Lebron James dancing to Drake's music.

Speaker 2

And you know when DeMar.

Speaker 1

DeRozan and Russell Westbrook and these brothers were on stage while Kendrick Lamar was performing.

Speaker 2

Not like us.

Speaker 1

They are from Compton, not Lebron, but they from la that's not a crime. So in that regard, I thought Drake was tripping. I was up the mindset like YO, handle it in the studio. He got you today, that don't mean he gonna get you next week.

Speaker 2

And if he got you, he got you. But if you got sent better something, the Eclipse not like us. Do that because Drake, you that great, you that special? What's the problem?

Speaker 1

Get in the studio and handle it like that. You don't handle it in the courtroom. That's not how you address contention in the hip hop industry when it comes to actual records being made.

Speaker 2

That's not what you do. And I stand on that.

Speaker 1

I firmly believe that Drake should do one or two things. Stand down and say he got me, or stand up by going in the studio and making another distrack of your own and making sure it Eclipse is not like us. What are the other I firmly believe that I'm not backing down or bound down from that.

Speaker 2

But I'm gonna tell y'all where Drake hits me.

Speaker 1

And my sensitive side. Dare I say comes into play when you have to move your child and a mother out of elementary school when he's being threatened in school when the mother and the child have to move out of Toronto according to the reports, that's what it says for safety reasons.

Speaker 2

When you've been.

Speaker 1

Accused and people think there's validity, not just you know, lyrical dissection dissection, but literally they're attaching legitimacy to allegations and accusations of you being a pedophile, then it gets a little dicey because um g, I mean Universal Music Group, both of them are under that.

Speaker 2

I'm not gonna look.

Speaker 1

At Universal Music Group and say what it was a crime for them trying to profit off of you?

Speaker 2

Hell yeah.

Speaker 1

They trying to profit off for you in any way they can, whether it's through your music or somebody else's.

Speaker 2

Music about you. The record company, of course, that's what they're gonna do. Cost that's what they're gonna do.

Speaker 1

One could argue they should be a bit sensitive to one of their own artists, but in their mind, did it compromise your bottom line?

Speaker 2

They don't think so.

Speaker 1

Did it compromise Kentrick Lamar's bottom line since he's under there unbrother as well, damn sure didn't it? Big up Tim, it's making him a bout load of money. That means it's gonna make them a boat load of money. And their attitude is they probably were expecting you to come back with even more material to go out him with and they could make money off.

Speaker 2

Of both of y'all.

Speaker 1

That's what they probably were thinking. That ain't what happened. So because that's not what happened. And when you consider the level of sensitivity that's been brought to the equation because again he was basically accused of being a pedophile appropriate black coach. I don't want to hear all of that. That's a different subject for another day. But being called a pedophile, yeah, he's.

Speaker 2

A dad in this universe.

Speaker 1

Is your own music, is your own music company that's promoting this stuff?

Speaker 2

Okay, all right?

Speaker 1

I understand I'm not as dog and as gistus as I once was, even though I still wouldn't do it.

Speaker 2

I understand where Drake's coming from.

Speaker 1

I just think that ultimately he's defeating the purpose because in the end, you're a hip hop artist who's gonna want your music to be absorbed by the masses in the future because you're far from a finished product and there's gonna be an abundance of people out there that look at this as a weak way to come at somebody like Kendrick Lamar who came at.

Speaker 2

You the way that he did.

Speaker 1

They want you to come back the same way or bow down to the fact that you got shook. That's how people are. I can see both sides of this. Before I could only see the one side that this looked weak to be using the Lord to come after the artists that took it to you in the studio. But I get where you're coming from. Now I do see it. I still wouldn't do it, but that's me a lot of people I know, But I understand why Drake could feel differently about this.

Speaker 2

I do

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