Drake Sues UMG For Kendrick’s Diss Track, ‘Not Like Us’
Drake is suing Universal Music for defamation related to Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’
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 shooting a security gaurd at Drake’s 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.
“The lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’” the lawsuit says, 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 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
The lawsuit, which is seeking a trial and an undisclosed amount of money for damages, also repeated allegations in other legal filings that UMG falsely pumped up the track on streaming services.
The diss song is nominated for five Grammys, including record of the year and song of the year.
