Drake has filed a legal claim against Universal Music Group (UMG), alleging defamation of character regarding the release of Kendrick Lamar’s track “Not Like Us.” The song, released in May of this year, took the internet by storm for it’s lyrics that were directly targeted at the Toronto rapper. Despite the conflict lasting almost the entirety of the Summer, the lawsuit comes as the most recent news between the two rappers.
The legal claim, being a pre-action petition filed in a Texas federal court, alleges an elaborate “scheme” to increase the amount of plays Lamar’s track received. Consequence Sound reports that Drake claims that UMG allegedly accepted payments from Lamar to play his song more.
Drake contends that UMG helped Kendrick Lamar in efforts to defame his character. The track, which was released earlier this year in May, includes lines that some listeners noticed as jabs to Drake. The song includes lines that label the Toronto rapper as an alleged “predator” and “pedophile”. “Not Like Us” gained lots of attention on social media within the hip-hop community for these remarks, which made Drake a public center of attention on the internet.
UMG responded to these claims in a statement to Billboard, stating that “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.”
With the recent news, there continues to be a growing significance of how lyrics in the music industry are perceived and the potential legal implications of releasing content that could be construed as defamatory.