Hmm.

Universal Music Group responds to Drake's appeal and claims the rapper used the label to attack Kendrick Lamar and now wants a new standard. On March 27, Universal Music Group filed a response to Drake's appeal of his dismissed defamation lawsuit regarding Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." "Although Drake had used UMG’s platform to attack Lamar in equally incendiary terms, he now claims UMG defamed him by releasing the recording, that the track violates N.Y. Penal Law, and that UMG’s promotion of it violated N.Y. General Business Law (GBL)," the filing reads. "[Drake] seeks to strip words from their context and deem them actionable defamation if anyone, anywhere, might treat them as factual," it continues. "That is not the law, and Drake’s view would critically undermine a highly creative art form built on exaggeration, insult, and wordplay. Drake’s Penal Law and GBL arguments fare no better. This Court should affirm the dismissal." Drake's original lawsuit against UMG for distributing "Not Like Us," which labels Drizzy a child predator, was dismissed last October. However, Drake continued the fight and appealed the ruling in January. XXL has reached out to UMG and Drake's attorney for comment.

J. Cole says the era of the “universal classic” in hip-hop might be over, arguing that bias, online hate, and fractured internet discourse have changed how people judge music: "It's too many voices now and it's too much bias nobody can agree anymore. It's like politics now. You think if Drake ‘Iceman’ come out and it’s something that I feel is a classic, you think that people that don’t like Drake and been spending their whole time hating on him is going to agree on their platform that it’s a classic? absolutely not. Now you have like niche classics... but the universal classics, it may be over."