Drake sues Universal Music for defamation related to Kendrick Lamar diss track ‘Not Like Us’

A hip-hop superstar beef was cranked up another notch Wednesday when Drake sued Universal Music Group for defamation over rival Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.” The lawsuit, filed in federal court in New York City, alleges UMG — the parent record label for Drake and Lamar — published and promoted the track even though it included false pedophilia allegations against Drake and suggested listeners should resort to vigilante justice. “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 later 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 large investments and used its connections to arrange for “Not Like Us” to be performed at next month’s Super Bowl, where Lamar will be the halftime entertainment. “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. “Beginning on May 4, 2024 and every day since, UMG has used its massive resources as the world’s most powerful music company to elevate a dangerous and inflammatory message that was designed to assassinate Drake’s character, and led to actual violence at Drake’s doorstep,” the law firm said in a statement.