Drake famously rapped “Sports and music are so synonymous” on “Thank Me Now” in 2010 and it couldn’t be truer as of this week. The Toronto rapper caught some jokes from Jalen Rose about his recent petitions against Universal Music Group.
The retired hooper subbed in for Kenny Smith, an Inside The NBA regular, alongside Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, and Ernie Johnson Jr., on Tuesday evening (Nov. 26). During their halftime segment for the Los Angeles Lakers and Phoenix Suns game, Kendrick Lamar’s “tv off” from his surprise album GNX played. Rose took the opportunity to warn his cohort about the ramifications of boosting K. Dot’s music.
“I don’t know if y’all should be playing that Kendrick,” he joked. “Y’all gonna get a lawsuit up here.” Shaq, Chuck, and Ernie all laughed in response, and Diesel even repeatedly chanted the popular line from the record “MUSTAAAAAARD.” Later, he asked “What you like on your hotdogs?” and answered with “MUSTAAAAAARD.” Johnson firmly stated, “Lawsuits don’t scare us around here.”
This isn’t the first time Inside The NBA has played Kendrick Lamar’s disses toward Drake. In April when “Euphoria” dropped, they played the record during a halftime broadcast. “What are you all putting us in the middle of the rap beef, man? Come on, man,” Kenny Smith said. “You got Kendrick playing, we right in the middle of the rap beef! We in the middle of the rap beef man, we gon’ play one side, we gotta play the other now.”
While the Inside The NBA cast joked about the situation then and now, it is no laughing matter for the 6 God. He kicked off the week by sending Universal Music Group a pre-action petition for allegedly artificially inflating the popularity of the Compton rapper’s hit “Not Like Us” through the use of bots and manipulation of streaming platforms.
He doubled down the next day by adding a second pre-action petition against the major label for defamation, citing their awareness and promotion of the content of the record and music video against him, another UMG signee. He and his legal team specifically highlighted his falsely being accused of being a pedophile, sex offender, and more.
Universal Music Group responded to the first pre-action petition in a statement to Variety. “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” they said. “We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
Leave a comment