New Drake lawsuit claims his label pushed ‘Not Like Us’ diss to defame him : NPR

The feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar continues to set new precedents on this planet of rap beef. Drake has filed a brand new lawsuit towards his mother or father label, Common Music Group, accusing the conglomerate of selling a tune that put his life and livelihood in speedy hazard.

A brand new 91-page lawsuit filed in New York’s Southern District Court docket right this moment particulars three tried residence invasions the Canadian rapper skilled at his Toronto residence final spring — one involving the taking pictures of his safety guard — and months of on-line hate. Drake is alleging within the petition that these break-ins, and the broader vitriol he skilled, are a direct results of UMG’s launch of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” the focused Drake diss-turned-hit single.

The lawsuit states that UMG knowingly dedicated defamation of character by releasing and selling “Not Like Us” as a result of the report’s lyrics “advance the false and malicious narrative that Drake is a pedophile,” use an aerial view of his residence as the quilt artwork to the tune and encourage the general public to “resort to vigilante justice in response.”

“The recording cloaks cleverly harmful lyrics behind a catchy beat and welcoming hook. Capitalizing on these attributes, UMG used each software at its disposal to make sure that the world would hear that Drake “like ’em younger,'” the lawsuit reads. The submitting goes on to quote quite a few TikTok and YouTube postings that defame the rapper on account of the tune; shares a photograph of a flyer that was posted round his neighborhood calling him a predator; and claims the musician needed to pull his baby out of faculty for concern of his security.

Graham’s attorneys allege that UMG closely promoted the monitor with the intention to weaken Drake’s status and devalue his model as an artist with the intention of backing him right into a nook and re-signing a deal that was favorable to the label.

This newest swimsuit follows information that the Canadian rap star withdrew a earlier submitting towards UMG and streaming large Spotify, which accused the businesses of launching a marketing campaign that paid influencers, radio stations and others to advertise the tune final summer time. Each lawsuits lean into UMG’s energy within the scenario and downplay Lamar’s half within the battle because the artist who launched the tune laced with accusations of pedophilia and baby grooming.

“UMG could spin this criticism as a rap beef gone authorized, however this lawsuit isn’t a couple of disagreement between artists. This lawsuit entails no claims towards Kendrick Lamar or some other artist; as a substitute, it’s about UMG — the writer and unique rights holder of Lamar’s music, in addition to Drake’s — and its malicious resolution to publish and promote” the monitor, the lawsuit reads.

Within the months because it was launched, “Not Like Us” has grown right into a cultural phenomenon far bigger than the preliminary beef. Apart from these lawsuits regarding the monitor, “Not Like Us” has develop into a West Coast anthem, has been streamed a couple of billion instances worldwide (and counting) and is nominated for 5 awards heading into the 2025 Grammys subsequent month, together with tune and report of the 12 months. Off the momentum of “Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar has launched a cinematic music video, hosted a Juneteenth live performance in Los Angeles and dropped his sixth studio album, GNX, a physique of labor that doubles down on the message of separating himself from these within the tradition he sees as pretend, nefarious and fraudulent. By comparability, the tracks that Drake dropped within the wake of the pair’s battle (“No Face” and “Housekeeping Is aware of” feat. Latto) have racked up streams however struggled to make the identical affect.

Drake is suing UMG for an undisclosed quantity in damages.

UMG denied the lawsuit’s claims in a press release: “Not solely are these claims unfaithful, however the notion that we might search to hurt the status of any artist—not to mention Drake—is illogical,” it begins. “We have now invested massively in his music and our workers all over the world have labored tirelessly for a few years to assist him obtain historic business and private monetary success.”

The assertion says that the artist has “deliberately and efficiently used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to have interaction in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to specific his emotions about different artists” all through his profession, and that he now “seeks to weaponize the authorized course of to silence an artist’s inventive expression and to hunt damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”

“We have now not and don’t have interaction in defamation—towards any particular person,” it continues. “On the similar time, we’ll vigorously defend this litigation to guard our folks and our status, in addition to any artist who may instantly or not directly develop into a frivolous litigation goal for having carried out nothing greater than write a tune.”