Start clapping right now, start clapping for Josh Johnson, y’all—let him hear it! I’ve been genuinely obsessed since I saw it, and I can’t stop talking about it. It’s something that happened around Thanksgiving, and man, what a thing to be thankful for! I’m talking about Drake’s court filing. Drake is suing Universal Music Group (UMG), Spotify, iHeartRadio… basically, everyone except Kendrick Lamar.

Let me break it down in case you’re not familiar with all the details. Kendrick Lamar, for those who don’t know, is a brilliant rapper—some even say the best to ever do it. He’s been dominating the rap game for years, and if you haven’t heard of him, well, you might’ve been living under a rock. But Drake? Drake’s been around for a while, too. And while he’s still a giant in the music world, he’s been in a bit of a beef with Kendrick.

Here’s where things get interesting. Drake has been embroiled in a lawsuit against multiple major companies. It all stems from what seems like a complex combination of business moves and personal grudges. Some say that this battle goes all the way back to Kanye West, who, during his Life of Pablo tour, went on one of his famous rants about the music industry. He spoke about how radio was lying to listeners and pushing artists like Drake to the forefront artificially—without any real artistry or soul behind it. Kanye’s point was that the industry was manipulating listeners, selling them something hollow just to make money.

Now, fast forward to today, and Drake is suing. He’s alleging that UMG used bots and manipulated streaming platforms to artificially boost Kendrick Lamar’s song Not Like Us. Drake claims this helped Kendrick’s track get more attention and popularity than it deserved. He says UMG and other companies lowered the cost of streaming Kendrick’s track, thus increasing its streams and pushing it to the top. Essentially, it’s a claim that Kendrick’s success wasn’t organic, and it was all part of a strategy to tear Drake down.

But here’s where things get even weirder. Drake’s lawsuit includes a defamation claim. He alleges that UMG allowed Kendrick to release Not Like Us, even though the song contained false information about him. The song itself was a direct attack on Drake, and Drake feels it was unfair to allow it to be released when the allegations in it were false.

Now, a lot of people don’t fully understand why Drake is suing over this specific song when there’s another track, Meet the Grams, which is even more personal and harsh. If you listen to Meet the Grams, it goes far beyond just calling out Drake; it’s deeply personal and talks about his family. Yet Drake doesn’t seem to focus on that track as much.

Drake’s lawsuit is also about the bigger picture—the power dynamics in the music industry. He’s been in a contract with UMG worth $400 million, a deal he quickly made back and more. But now, as he tries to renegotiate his contract, Drake claims that UMG might be intentionally manipulating things to devalue his brand, reducing his worth in the eyes of the industry.

This situation reminds me a lot of Michael Jackson’s legal battles with Sony. Michael Jackson, at the peak of his career, accused Sony of sabotaging his album releases to try to bring him down and regain control over the music he owned. Similarly, Drake is alleging that the very system that built him up is now working against him.

This lawsuit is raising some serious questions about the way the music industry operates and the lengths to which powerful entities will go to control artists. It’s not just about Drake and Kendrick anymore; it’s about the entire system of power that governs how music is made, marketed, and consumed.

At the heart of all this is the question: Is the music you love really your choice, or is it all being fed to you by a system that has more control than you think? We all have our favorite artists, but how many of us have truly discovered them on our own? If you’re listening to the same mainstream artists over and over, are you really choosing them, or are you being manipulated by the machine?

It’s a difficult thing to unpack, but Drake’s lawsuit is opening up a conversation about how the music industry is shifting, and how artists are fighting back against a system that seems rigged against them. In the end, Drake’s battle with UMG is about more than just personal beef—it’s about challenging the entire structure of the industry and asking tough questions about who really controls what we listen to.

So, while it’s easy to laugh or be skeptical of Drake suing, there’s a deeper conversation happening here. We might be seeing the beginning of a bigger fight for creative freedom and control over the music we hear. Whether you’re a Drake fan or not, this lawsuit is setting the stage for a new era in the music industry, where artists are taking back control from the corporations that have held all the cards for far too long. And as for Kendrick? Well, it seems like Drake’s going to leave him out of it—for now.