Drake may have spent most of 2024 publicly feuding with Kendrick Lamar, but after his new lawsuit dragged Kai Cenat into the mix, he’s made even more enemies for himself.
The two A-list rappers escalated a longstanding feud last year when they began dropping diss tracks specifically aimed at one another. Everyone who pays even the slightest attention to hip-hop was tuned in, eager to see who would be crowned the king at the end.
It wasn’t a long wait.
Track after track, fans seemed to favor Lamar. But the main draw was the spectacle of it all. Was it the last great rap beef? Was it just a pathetic display that highlighted a shifting cultural attitude? Was it all a publicity stunt?
One of the more notable moments of the back-and-forth between the two was when Lamar released “Not Like Us” in early May, featuring these lyrics:
“Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young
You better not ever go to cell block one
To any bitch that talk to him and they in love
Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him”
As if that wasn’t clear enough, just a few bars later, Lamar got even more explicit with his accusations.
“Certified Lover Boy?” he asked, referencing Drake’s 2021 album of the same name. “Certified pedophiles.”
What is the Drake UMG lawsuit?
On January 15, 2025, Drake filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group, the parent label under which both he and Lamar release music (via Republic Records and Interscope, respectively).
In it, he accuses UMG of knowingly defaming him by promoting “Not Like Us.” He also alleged that the label utilized bots to boost the song’s visibility and quietly paid people to promote it.
“UMG’s campaign went well beyond the traditional music company playbook,” the lawsuit reads. “UMG has unleashed every weapon in its arsenal, including, on information and belief, certain practices that are unlawful.”
This alleged defamation, his lawyers say, caused harm to Drake’s career and contributed to threats against his safety. They cited online vitriol, break-in attempts at his home, and said he even had to take his son out of school—all of which the rapper is blaming on “Not Like Us.”
Another key aspect of Drake’s claims is that UMG “whitelisted” the track so that social media influencers could post videos that included the song without facing copyright issues. He even went on to name several big content creators who did so, including Zias, No Life Shaq, and Kai Cenat.
What happened between Drake and Kai Cenat?
Namedropping Cenat in the lawsuit in particular gave people who have followed the Drake-Lamar feud pause.
Back when the rappers were trading diss tracks in May 2024, Cenat was in the middle of livestreaming when he received a message from Drake.
“Drake just texted me,” he said before flipping his phone around.
On his screen, viewers were able to see a direct message from Drake’s Instagram, @champagnepapi, that read: “Stay on stream” with a grinning devil emoji.
Drake just texted Kai Cenat “stay on stream
— Salt” in Kai’s stream.. ITS TIME.
pic.twitter.com/gNJjhE80oI
(@ilySalt) May 4, 2024
Not long after that, Drake shared his response to Lamar—a diss track titled “Family Matters.” The implication, to fans, was clear. The rapper had asked Cenat to keep streaming because he wanted him to draw attention to his diss track with his live reaction.
Mind you Drake told Kai Cenat to stay on stream so he could spread the content of his “red button” which was Family Matters, AKA the song where Drake alleges Kendrick abuses his partner and is raising an illegitimate child.
— 𝕂𝕒𝕓𝕣𝕚𝕖𝕝 (@panthersgod) January 15, 2025
Drake gets called out for ‘snitching’ on Kai Cenat
The crux of Drake’s lawsuit revolves around his frustration with UMG publishing and promoting a track that makes derogatory claims against him that he insists are not true. Yet Drake’s “Family Matters” contains something similar—a suggestion that Lamar beat an unnamed girlfriend, despite there being no public accusations of such at a time—and he appeared to encourage at least one of the same “third parties” to promote the song.
It’s not a good look for Drake, whose image has certainly been suffering since the feud heated up. Whether that’s because Lamar called him a pedophile or because people just thought his tracks and his attitude about the whole thing sucked is up for debate.
But dragging Cenat into it has been particularly cringeworthy for anyone keeping score.
Drake is snitching on everyone
— yaya (@PhucShuMeanMane) January 15, 2025
Drake put Kai Cenat name in the lawsuit but wasn’t he on the phone with Kai just a couple weeks ago like shit was sweet when he did that Christmas shit with Bendadon and Adin Ross????
— Keeyuh(@k33yuh) January 15, 2025
I mean, he already is seen as such now so what’s really the difference?
— Haze (@Arcanicck) January 15, 2025
Kai Cenat responds to Drake mentioning him in UMG’s lawsuit
In a Jan. 16, 2025 livestream, Kai Cenat responded to a tweet by @FearedBuck on X, who wrote, “Drake alleges in the lawsuit that UMG permitted content creators such as Kai Cenat, Zias, NoLifeShaq, RDC Gaming, and CartierFamily to monetize reactions to ‘Not Like Us’ without enforcing copyright claims. He claims this lack of enforcement enabled the spread of defamatory content while generating profits for both UMG and the creators, prioritizing revenue over Drake’s safety.”
“‘You’re getting sued’” said Cenat. “Wait, what?! Why am I in his sh*t? Wait, hold on…I’ve got to be…what the fu*k?! I’m getting sued?! I was told to stay on stream!” He went on to accuse Drake of lying and express his surprise at the situation.
“‘You’re not getting sued.’ Okay! So, explain to me from the right on this, is he just using… so, he’s just using us an example of, like, spreading misinformation-type sh*t?”
During the same stream, Cenat refuted rumors UMG had paid him amid the Drake-Lamar beef.
With this lawsuit blowing up in his face the way it is, it’s tempting to suggest Drake should have just stuck to making diss tracks. But considering how well that went…he probably just should have stuck with Degrassi.
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