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 鈥� the parent record label for Drake and Lamar 鈥� 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 and two attempted break-ins at Drake鈥檚 Toronto home, online hate and harassment, a hit to his reputation and a decrease in his brand's value before his contract renegotiation with UMG this year.
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.
The track is nominated for five Grammys, including record of the year and song of the year.
UMG disputed the lawsuit's allegations in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
鈥淣ot only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist 鈥� let alone Drake 鈥� is illogical," the company said. 鈥淲e 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.鈥�
The company added: 鈥淭hroughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth 鈥榬ap battles鈥� to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist鈥檚 creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist鈥檚 music. 鈥�
Representatives for Lamar did not respond to emails seeking comment.
between Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner whose full name is Aubrey Drake Graham, 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. They said the shooting and break-in attempts at Drake's home, and the online vitriol, prompted him to move his family out of the house, and that he fears for his and their safety.
鈥淏eginning on May 4, 2024 and every day since, UMG has used its massive resources as the world鈥檚 most powerful music company to elevate a dangerous and inflammatory message that was designed to assassinate Drake鈥檚 character, and led to actual violence at Drake鈥檚 doorstep,鈥� the law firm said in a statement.
鈥淭his lawsuit reveals the human and business consequences to UMG鈥檚 elevation of profits over the safety and well-being of its artists, and shines a light on the manipulation of artists and the public for corporate gain,鈥� it said.
Dave Collins, The Associated Press
