A hip-hop superstar beef was cranked up another notch Wednesday when sued Universal Music Group for defamation over rival diss track 鈥淣ot Like Us.鈥�
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York City, alleges UMG published and promoted the track even though it included false pedophilia allegations against Drake and suggested listeners should resort to vigilante justice. Lamar is not named in the suit.
The result, the suit says, was intruders at Drake鈥檚 Toronto home, as well as online hate and harassment, a hit to his reputation and decreasing his brand's value before his contract renegotiation with UMG this year. The company has contracts with both stars.
鈥淭he lawsuit is not about the artist who created 鈥楴ot Like Us,鈥�" the lawsuit says, referring to Lamar. 鈥淚t 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.鈥�
The suit later alleges, 鈥淯MG did so because it understood that the Recording's inflammatory and shocking allegations were a gold mine.鈥�
And, the suit claims, the music company has made large investments and used its connections to arrange for 鈥淣ot Like Us鈥� to be performed at next month's Super Bowl, where Lamar will be
The lawsuit, which is seeking a trial and an undisclosed amount of money for damages, also repeated allegations in other legal filings that UMG on streaming services.
Representatives for Drake declined to comment Wednesday. Representatives for UMG and Lamar did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
In a previous statement responding to similar allegations in pre-litigation filings, the record company said the 鈥渟uggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.鈥�
between Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old , is among the biggest in hip-hop in recent years, with two of the genre鈥檚 biggest stars at its center.
The two were occasional collaborators more than a decade ago, but Lamar began taking public jabs at Drake starting in 2013. The fight last year.
Drake's lawyers, from New York-based Willkie Farr & Gallagher, said the lawsuit seeks to hold UMG accountable for knowingly promoting false and defamatory allegations against him.
Dave Collins, The Associated Press
