Drake has sued Universal Music Group (UMG) for defamation over rival Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us.
The lawsuit alleges UMG – which Drake, 38, and Lamar, 37, are both signed to – published and promoted the track even though it included false allegations the God’s Plan rapper is a paedophile and suggested listeners should resort to vigilante justice.
It is the latest development in a bitter feud between two of hip hop’s biggest stars, who released a series of diss tracks last year making personal remarks about each other.
Lamar is not named in the lawsuit, which was filed to a federal court in New York on Wednesday.
Seeking a trial and an undisclosed amount of money for damages, the lawsuit alleges UMG knowingly “decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetise allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous”.
It said the allegations directly resulted in Drake’s security guard being shot outside his Toronto mansion in May last year, and two attempted break-ins in the same month.
The rapper, who is the world’s most-streamed hip hop artist, also claimed the track led to online hate and harassment, a hit to his reputation and a decrease in his brand’s value before his contract renegotiation with the record label this year.
The suit added that UMG “understood the recording’s inflammatory and shocking allegations were a gold mine” so did nothing to change it or stop it from being published.
It also reiterated claims made in a legal petition filed by Drake’s firm Frozen Moments LLC last November, that UMG and Spotify artificially boosted Not Like Us, “including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements”.
In a statement to Sky News at the time, UMG strongly denied the allegations, with a spokesperson calling them “offensive and untrue”.
UMG also refutes the latest claims, saying in a statement on Wednesday: “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.”
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It 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. “
Lamar’s track Not Like Us was streamed almost 900 million times after its release on 4 May. It is nominated for five Grammys, including record of the year and song of the year.
The Pulitzer Prize winner is set to perform the half-time show of next month’s Super Bowl.
