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Drake sues his own label for defamation over Kendrick Lamar diss track

Drake is accusing Universal Music Group of spreading the ‘false and malicious narrative’ that he is a pedophile

Kevin E G Perry
Los Angeles
Thursday 16 January 2025 02:54 GMT
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Drake Drops Legal Action Against UMG & Spotify Over 'Not Like Us'

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Drake is suing his own label, Universal Music Group (UMG), for spreading the “false and malicious narrative” that he is a pedophile.

Universal Music Group also represent Kendrick Lamar, who Drake has been involved in a long-running beef with.

In May 2024, Interscope Records, a subsidiary of UMG, released Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” which included lyrics such as: “Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young."

Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham, claims in the lawsuit that Universal knew the allegations were false but “chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.” Lamar is not named in the suit.

It continues: “In controversy, UMG saw an opportunity, seized it, and continued to fan the flames.”

The lawsuit has been filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. It claims that Universal “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”

Days after “Not Like Us” was released, a security guard was injured in a drive-by shooting at Drake’s mansion in Toronto. He was reported to be in a stable condition a week after the shooting.

Drake attending an NBA game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 16, 2024
Drake attending an NBA game between the Houston Rockets and the Cleveland Cavaliers on March 16, 2024 (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

In a statement, UMG told The Independent: “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 lawsuit was filed just hours after Drake agreed to drop a separate legal complaint against UMG and Spotify that claimed they had schemed to artificially boost the streaming number for “Not Like Us.”

In a court filing obtained by The Independent last November, Drake claimed that UMG used a network of bots, in conjunction with a so-called pay-to-play scheme, to “manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves” with “Not Like Us”, all to Drake’s detriment.

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In a statement at the time, a UMG spokesman said, “The suggestion 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. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

Spotify filed opposition papers to Drake’s claims in late December last year. A spokesperson for the streamings service disputed Drake’s claim that there had been a coordinated effort to promote Lamar’s song, saying: “Spotify has no economic incentive for users to stream ‘Not Like Us’ over any of Drake’s tracks.

“Only one of Spotify for Artists’ tools, Marquee, was purchased on behalf of the song, for €500 to promote the track in France. Marquee is a visual ad that is disclosed to users as a Sponsored Recommendation.”

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