A$AP Rocky criticizes Drake’s legal move in feud with Kendrick Lamar

A$AP Rocky has weighed in on the Drake–Kendrick Lamar saga, calling the lyrical battle “healthy for Hip-Hop” but denouncing Drake’s reported legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) over Lamar’s smash diss track, “Not Like Us.”

Speaking in conjunction with his ELLE cover story published Tuesday, Sept. 23, the Harlem rapper reflected on the high-profile clash that defined spring 2024, when Lamar’s “Euphoria” and Drake’s rebuttal “Family Matters”, which took shots at Rocky, dominated charts and timelines.

Rocky said he deliberately stayed out of the crossfire. “The battle was between Kendrick and Drake, not Drake and everybody else who might have said something at that time,” he said. “And that’s mainly why I fell back.”

Rocky’s view changed, he added, when Drake pursued legal action over “Not Like Us,” a record that morphed from viral moment to cultural phenomenon. “I just hate the way it’s turning out with [Drake] suing and all that,” Rocky said. “What part of the game is that? What type of sh*t is that? That’s none of my business, I guess.”

His comments arrive against the backdrop of a long, complicated history with Drake. The two once collaborated and toured together before relations cooled—tension that intensified as Rocky’s relationship with Rihanna became public.

Drake and Rihanna’s on-and-off dynamic was a pop-culture staple through hits like “Work” and “What’s My Name,” but Rihanna later told Vogue in 2018 they were no longer friends following Drake’s very public declaration of love onstage at the 2016 MTV VMAs.

Rocky and Rihanna are now partners and parents to two children, RZA and Riot, and are expecting their third.