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Drake Sues His Label, Universal Music Group, for Defamation Over Kendrick Lamar’s Diss Track Not Like Us: Details
Both Kendrick Lamar and Drake are signed to Universal Music Group, and their decade-long feud escalated last year with Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us, which falsely accused Drake of pedophilia.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s rap battle cranked up another notch on Wednesday, January 15, when the former sued Universal Music Group for defamation over the latter’s diss track Not Like Us. The lawsuit, filed in federal court in NYC, alleges UMG, the parent record holder for both artists, published and promoted the track even though it included false pedophilia allegations against Drake and suggested listeners should resort to vigilante justice.
The result, the suit says, was intruders shooting a security guard and two break-ins at Drake’s Toronto home, online slander and harassment, a hit to his reputation, and a decrease in his brand’s value before his contract renegotiation with the defendant label this year.
“The lawsuit is not about the artist who created Not Like Us,” the filing clarifies, referring to Lamar. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false but dangerous.”
The suit further alleges, “UMG did so because it understood that the recording’s inflammatory and shocking allegations were a gold mine.”
And the suit claims the music company has made significant investments and used its connections to arrange for Not Like Us to be performed at the forthcoming Super Bowl, where Lamar will be the halftime entertainer.
Drake is seeking a trial and an undisclosed amount of money for damages through the filing.
Drake previously alleged UMG falsely ramped up the promotion of Not Like Us on streaming services. The song is nominated for five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
UMG disputed Drake’s latest lawsuit’s allegations in a statement on Wednesday afternoon, saying, “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist — let alone Drake — is illogical. We have invested massively in his music, and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.”
The company added: “Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
Drake and Lamar were occasional collaborators a decade ago, but the latter began taking digs at Drake starting in 2013. Their beef escalated steeply last year.
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