American rapper Drake has filed a lawsuit against record label Universal Music Group (UMG) for defamation alleging that the record label promoted Kendrick Lamar diss track “Not Like Us” even though it contained false allegations.
According to AP Entertainment, the lawsuit alleges that UMG published and promoted that track which accused Drake, falsely, of pedophilia. The suit also alleges that the result was intruders shooting a security guard and two attempted break-ins at Drake’s Toronto home, online hate and harassment, a hit to his reputation and a decrease in his brand’s value before his contract renegotiation with UMG this year.
Kendrick is not mentioned in the suit.
“The lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’” the lawsuit says. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetise allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”
The suit further claims that UMG 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 popularity of “Not Like Us” on streaming services.
The track is nominated for five Grammys, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year.
However, UMG has denied the allegations. In a statement shared online, the company said the claims were illogical.
“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,” the company said. “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. He now seeks to weaponise the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music. ”
The lawsuit comes after what critics have called the biggest feud in hip-hop in recent years.
While the two rappers, both represented by UMG, began dissing each other in public in 2013, the feud escalated with the release of several tracks made public back to back in 2024 from both camps. However, the diss track “Not Like Us” by Kendrick emerged the most popular mostly because of its damning accusations.
Through the suit, Drake is seeking a trial and an undisclosed amount of money for damages to his reputation.