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Rap star Drake has filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) for defamation and harassment, over the release of Kendrick Lamar’s song Not Like Us last year.
The song, which formed part of an angry tussle between the two stars, accused Drake and his entourage of being “dependent pedophiles” who should be “recorded and placed on neighborhood watch.”
In papers filed in New York, Drake’s lawyers accused the record company of launching a “hit-making campaign” with a song that made “false factual claims that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and suggesting that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”
Universal has not yet responded to these allegations.
The move comes just 24 hours after Drake withdrew a separate lawsuit against UMG and Spotify, accusing the two companies of conspiring to artificially boost Not Like Us streams, at the expense of his own music.
In this case, he said Universal licensed the song “at significantly discounted prices to Spotify” and used bots to create additional plays, creating “the false impression that the song was more popular than it actually was.”
In a statement at the time, Universal told the BBC: “This proposal [the company] “For her to do anything to undermine any of her artists is offensive and untrue.”
She added that “no amount of contrived and ridiculous legal arguments… can hide the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
Spotify also responded that “there is no economic incentive for users to stream Not Like Us on any of Drake’s tracks.”
The Swedish broadcasting company later filed a summary of opposition to Drake’s petition, saying it “should be denied.”
His lawyers withdrew the case on Tuesday, after meeting with representatives of both companies, according to court papers.
This seemed to draw a line under the legal action — until the story took a dramatic twist on Wednesday morning.
In a lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Drake accused Universal – which distributes his and Lamar’s music – of prioritizing “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
His lawyers noted that the artwork for “Not Like Us” is based on an aerial photo of Drake’s $100 million mansion in Toronto, which is dotted with red signs often used to indicate the presence of registered sex offenders.
Court documents link the artwork to a shooting on the property shortly after the release of Kendrick’s song, describing it as “the 2024 equivalent of the Pizzagate song.”
The caption referred to a conspiracy theory about an American sex ring operating out of a pizzeria in Washington. Which led to a gunman opening fire At the restaurant in 2016.
“Not Like Us” was widely viewed as the decisive blow in a long-running feud between Drake and Lamar, which dates back to early 2010.
In the lyrics, Lamar claims that Drake “likes ’em young” and accuses him of using other, more credible rappers to boost his profile.
Drake responded with a song called The Heart Part 6, where he dismissed the allegations, saying, “I’ve never been with anyone underage.” He also claimed that he provided Lamar “false” information through a double agent.
However, his response failed to attract the same attention as “Not Like Us,” which debuted at No. 1 on the US chart and has attracted more than 1 billion streams on Spotify.
The song was nominated for five awards, including Record and Song of the Year, at the Grammy Awards on February 3. A week later, Lamar would headline the Super Bowl halftime show.
However, the new lawsuit does not target Lamar himself, according to Drake’s attorney.
“This lawsuit does not relate to the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,'” court documents say.
“It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit and monetize the allegations, which it realized were not only false, but dangerous.”
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2025-01-15 16:41:00
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