Scott Derrickson reveals how The Shining inspired Black Phone 2
The 58-year-old filmmaker is bringing back child adductor The Grabber - played by Ethan Hawke - following the success of his 2022 supernatural horror, which was based on the characters featured in Joe Hill's collection of short stories '20th Century Ghosts'.
The sequel is partly set at a place known as Alpine Lake Youth Camp and that wintery setting in the Rocky Mountains is the same location as The Overlook Hotel that sends Jack Torrance mad in Stanley Kubrick's 1980 horror classic which is based on Stephen King's book of the same name.
Derrickson also wanted to acknowledge the tradition of school camp horror films - the most popular franchise being 'Friday the 13th' which is set at Camp Crystal Lake summer camp.
In an interview with Collider, Derrickson said: "I really like to use weather as a character if I have an opportunity to do it, so the winter, Rocky Mountain camp environment was also an inspiration for me to say yes to doing the movie. Of course, you've got 'The Shining' that you're drawing on because that was The Overlook Hotel in Estes Park, Colorado, where they filmed the exterior of that.
"And, of course, you've got the little tradition of camp horror, but it's almost always summer camp. There aren't a lot of winter camp movies. I went to both as a high school kid, and it was always the winter camps that were more powerful and memorable."
Derrickson also revealed that he put many of his own school experiences into 'The Black Phone' and the sequel - which is set four years after the events of the first film.
He added: "It's really drawing on my experience as a high schooler. I poured so much of my childhood and early middle school years into 'The Black Phone'. "In high school, as I got older, I spent more and more time in the Rocky Mountains. I'd ski every weekend, and I spent a lot of time at these winter camps that they have up there. They're really incredible experiences. To be in the violence of that weather, the blizzards and all of that, the beauty of the surrounding mountains, to be in several feet of snow all the time, there's something mesmerizingly powerful about that."
Derrickson admits the passage of time for the story was a major factor in him agreeing to make a sequel as he could explore what the effects of the first film's plot had on Mason Thames' character Finney and Madeleine McGraw's alter ego Gwen.
He said: "As soon as the first movie was a hit, Universal was asking me to make a sequel, hoping I'd make a sequel. I didn't feel obliged to do that, but I certainly wasn't going to do it if I didn't have a reason to do it beyond any kind of cash grab. So I was looking for an idea, and Joe Hill emailed me a pitch for a sequel. Some of it I didn't respond to, but there was an idea within that email that I thought was fantastic that I had never thought of. So, I started to noodle on that idea.
"Then, really, what made me decide to go ahead and commit to making a sequel was that I realised if I went and made another movie first and didn't go straight into a sequel, which I'm sure everybody would have liked, if I waited and made another movie first, then these kids would be in high school.
"That became a very exciting prospect to me to be able to continue with these characters, but in a really different phase of their lives, both as characters and as actors. These kids would really be in high school, and we'd make a high school coming-of-age horror film as opposed to a middle school movie. Once I had that idea, I think that's when I committed to doing it."
'Black Phone 2' will be released in cinemas in October 2025.
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The Advertiser
2 days ago
- The Advertiser
Slander or 'trash-talking'? Drake-Kendrick Lamar feud has a day in court
A US federal judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, the megahit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas didn't immediately decide after a lively hearing Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024's biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make this winter's Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending that the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. The mansion was depicted in an aerial photo in the song's cover art. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake's lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, said. He argued that Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that didn't just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. The average listener could be "a 13-year-old who's dancing to the song at a bar mitzvah," Gottlieb suggested. "That would be a very interesting bar mitzvah," the judge opined. (The song has indeed been played at some such celebrations.) READ MORE: Kendrick Lamar announces stadium shows after Aussie fans 'flooded' DMs Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued Monday, at one point apologising for having to use profanity while reciting some of the lyrics Drake aimed at Lamar in a track called Taylor Made Freestyle. "What you hear in these rap battles is trash-talking in the extreme, and it is not, and should not be treated as, statements of fact," the attorney said. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Drake also went after iHeartMedia, claiming in a Texas legal petition that the radio giant got illegal payments from Universal to boost airplay for Not Like Us. iHeartMedia has denied any wrongdoing. That dispute was resolved in March. Drake hasn't sued Lamar himself. A US federal judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, the megahit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas didn't immediately decide after a lively hearing Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024's biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make this winter's Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending that the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. The mansion was depicted in an aerial photo in the song's cover art. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake's lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, said. He argued that Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that didn't just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. The average listener could be "a 13-year-old who's dancing to the song at a bar mitzvah," Gottlieb suggested. "That would be a very interesting bar mitzvah," the judge opined. (The song has indeed been played at some such celebrations.) READ MORE: Kendrick Lamar announces stadium shows after Aussie fans 'flooded' DMs Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued Monday, at one point apologising for having to use profanity while reciting some of the lyrics Drake aimed at Lamar in a track called Taylor Made Freestyle. "What you hear in these rap battles is trash-talking in the extreme, and it is not, and should not be treated as, statements of fact," the attorney said. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Drake also went after iHeartMedia, claiming in a Texas legal petition that the radio giant got illegal payments from Universal to boost airplay for Not Like Us. iHeartMedia has denied any wrongdoing. That dispute was resolved in March. Drake hasn't sued Lamar himself. A US federal judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, the megahit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas didn't immediately decide after a lively hearing Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024's biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make this winter's Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending that the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. The mansion was depicted in an aerial photo in the song's cover art. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake's lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, said. He argued that Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that didn't just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. The average listener could be "a 13-year-old who's dancing to the song at a bar mitzvah," Gottlieb suggested. "That would be a very interesting bar mitzvah," the judge opined. (The song has indeed been played at some such celebrations.) READ MORE: Kendrick Lamar announces stadium shows after Aussie fans 'flooded' DMs Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued Monday, at one point apologising for having to use profanity while reciting some of the lyrics Drake aimed at Lamar in a track called Taylor Made Freestyle. "What you hear in these rap battles is trash-talking in the extreme, and it is not, and should not be treated as, statements of fact," the attorney said. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Drake also went after iHeartMedia, claiming in a Texas legal petition that the radio giant got illegal payments from Universal to boost airplay for Not Like Us. iHeartMedia has denied any wrongdoing. That dispute was resolved in March. Drake hasn't sued Lamar himself. A US federal judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us, the megahit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas didn't immediately decide after a lively hearing Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024's biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make this winter's Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending that the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. The mansion was depicted in an aerial photo in the song's cover art. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake's lawyer, Michael Gottlieb, said. He argued that Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that didn't just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. The average listener could be "a 13-year-old who's dancing to the song at a bar mitzvah," Gottlieb suggested. "That would be a very interesting bar mitzvah," the judge opined. (The song has indeed been played at some such celebrations.) READ MORE: Kendrick Lamar announces stadium shows after Aussie fans 'flooded' DMs Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued Monday, at one point apologising for having to use profanity while reciting some of the lyrics Drake aimed at Lamar in a track called Taylor Made Freestyle. "What you hear in these rap battles is trash-talking in the extreme, and it is not, and should not be treated as, statements of fact," the attorney said. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. Drake also went after iHeartMedia, claiming in a Texas legal petition that the radio giant got illegal payments from Universal to boost airplay for Not Like Us. iHeartMedia has denied any wrongdoing. That dispute was resolved in March. Drake hasn't sued Lamar himself.
The Advertiser
2 days ago
- The Advertiser
Drake-Kendrick Lamar's epic feud has a day in court
A US judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar 's Not Like Us, the mega-hit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas did not immediately decide after a lively hearing on Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024 biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make the Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake lawyer Michael Gottlieb said. He argued Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that did not just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued on Monday. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. A US judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar 's Not Like Us, the mega-hit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas did not immediately decide after a lively hearing on Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024 biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make the Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake lawyer Michael Gottlieb said. He argued Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that did not just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued on Monday. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. A US judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar 's Not Like Us, the mega-hit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas did not immediately decide after a lively hearing on Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024 biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make the Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake lawyer Michael Gottlieb said. He argued Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that did not just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued on Monday. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. A US judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar 's Not Like Us, the mega-hit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas did not immediately decide after a lively hearing on Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024 biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make the Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake lawyer Michael Gottlieb said. He argued Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that did not just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued on Monday. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Perth Now
3 days ago
- Perth Now
Drake-Kendrick Lamar's epic feud has a day in court
A US judge is pondering the nature of rap battles and the cutting wordplay in Kendrick Lamar 's Not Like Us, the mega-hit diss track that spurred a defamation lawsuit from his fellow superstar Drake. Drake sued Universal Music Group - both his and Lamar's record label - over Not Like Us, saying the company published and promoted a song he deems slanderous. Universal says the lyrics are just hyperbole in the tradition of rap beefing, and the label is trying to get the case dismissed. Judge Jeannette Vargas did not immediately decide after a lively hearing on Monday, when the raw creativity of hip-hop brushed up against the staid confines of federal court. "Who is the ordinary listener? Is it someone who's going to catch all those references?" Vargas wondered aloud, addressing a legal standard that concerns how an average, reasonable person would understand a statement. "There's so much specialised and nuanced to these lyrics." Neither artist attended the hearing. The case stems from an epic feud between two of hip-hop's biggest stars over one of 2024 biggest songs - the one that won the record of the year and song of the year Grammys, got the most Apple Music streams worldwide and helped make the Super Bowl halftime show the most watched ever. Released as the two artists were trading a flurry of insult tracks, Lamar's song calls out the Canadian-born Drake by name and impugns his authenticity, branding him "a coloniser" of rap culture who's "not like us" in Lamar's home turf of Compton, California, and, more broadly, West Coast rap. Not Like Us also makes insinuations about Drake's sex life, including "I hear you like 'em young" - implications that he rejects. Drake's suit says that the song amounts to "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts" and more. Contending the track endangered him by fanning notions of vigilante justice, the suit blames Not Like Us not only for harming Drake's image but for attempted break-ins and the shooting of a security guard at his Toronto home. "This song achieved a cultural ubiquity unlike any other rap song in history," Drake lawyer Michael Gottlieb said. He argued Universal had campaigned and contrived to make it "a de facto national anthem" that did not just address hip-hop fans who knew the backstory and were accustomed to over-the-top lyrical battling. Universal, meanwhile, has emphasised that Not Like Us was part of an exchange of barbs between Drake and Lamar. "Context is key," label lawyer Rollin Ransom argued on Monday. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
