Drake is suing the world’s largest document firm, an organization he’s signed to.
In a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday, the famous person rapper accused Universal Music Group of defamation and harassment for releasing and selling Kendrick Lamar’s track “Not Like Us,” by which Lamar describes Drake as a pedophile.
“Not Like Us” got here out final yr on the top of a well-publicized feud between Drake and Lamar that concerned the trade of greater than a half-dozen more and more spiteful diss tracks. Over a celebration beat by veteran L.A. producer Mustard, Compton-born Lamar tells Drake, “I hear you such as you younger,” and warns that “you higher by no means go to dam one”; later within the track, Lamar describes what he sees as a historical past of cultural appropriation by Drake, who’s from Canada, earlier than labeling him a “fucking colonizer”.
“Not Like Us” – which adopted earlier songs by which the 2 MCs made accusations of home violence and parental neglect – was extensively seen because the dying blow. On Spotify, the track has been streamed greater than 1 billion instances and is nominated for 5 awards at subsequent month’s Grammy Awards, together with document and track of the yr.
Now, Drake (whose actual identify is Aubrey Graham) claims in his lawsuit that Universal Music Group has put his life in peril by having “endorsed, launched and launched a marketing campaign to create a viral hit from a rap observe that falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and requires violent punishment towards him.” The lawsuit provides that UMG – which “has enriched itself and its shareholders by exploiting Drake’s music for years” – “knew that the salacious allegations towards Drake have been false.” however “he selected company greed over the protection and well-being of its artists.”
The criticism cites an incident at Drake’s Toronto residence — a mansion depicted on the quilt of “Not Like Us” as residence to registered intercourse offenders — by which somebody shot and injured a safety guard simply days after the discharge of ” Not Like Us”.
UMG representatives didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
The go well with was introduced within the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York by a authorized workforce led by Michael J. Gottlieb, who has made headlines in recent times utilizing defamation regulation in circumstances towards Rudy Giuliani (named of Donald Trump’s ally accused Georgia election staff of making an attempt to steal the 2020 presidential election) and authors of the so-called Pizzagate conspiracy concept by which a Washington, D.C., pizzeria was characterised as a middle for a tour of underage intercourse.
Drake’s criticism calls the capturing on the rapper’s residence, which he says he delivered to UMG’s consideration, “the 2024 equal of ‘Pizzagate.’ “
The doc notes that Drake’s lawsuit “is Not in regards to the artist who created “Not Like Us” ” however is “totally about UMG,” with whom Drake has been in enterprise as a recording artist since 2009. In the lawsuit, the rapper frames UMG’s promotion of “Not Like Us” – which he beforehand stated concerned bots at streaming providers and paycheck-like practices at radio stations – as a way to “devalue Drake’s music and model” as he prepares to renegotiate a contract with the document label manner, the lawsuit claims, “UMG would acquire leverage to pressure Drake to signal a brand new settlement on phrases extra favorable to UMG.”
