During a venomous back-and-forth barrage of diss tracks last year, the rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar accused one another of phoniness, hypocrisy and abuse. But while fans anointed Lamar’s chart-topping single “Not Like Us” the battle’s knockout blow, Drake saw the song’s punchlines invoking pedophilia as something far more insidious — and with real-world consequences.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal court, the artist born Aubrey Drake Graham sued Universal Music Group, the record company behind both rappers, for defamation and harassment, calling its release and promotion of “Not Like Us” an example of valuing “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”
The suit, brought in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses Universal of having “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”
Noting that the cover art for “Not Like Us” features a photo of Drake’s Toronto home dotted with markers meant to represent the presence of registered sex offenders, the complaint invokes a shooting at the residence days after the song’s release that injured a security guard — calling it “the 2024 equivalent of ‘Pizzagate’” — and cites two other attempted trespassers in the days that followed.
The suit was brought on behalf of Drake by Michael J. Gottlieb, a partner at the firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who has previously represented the owner of the Washington pizzeria targeted by the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorists and the election workers falsely accused by Rudolph W. Giuliani of aiding a false plot to steal the 2020 presidential election.
In November, Drake had initiated pre-litigation actions against Universal in state court in New York and Texas, naming Spotify and the radio conglomerate iHeartMedia as potential participants in an elaborate scheme to promote “Not Like Us” using bots and payola. On Tuesday, representatives for Drake withdrew the earlier filing in New York against Universal and Spotify in favor of the federal lawsuit filed Wednesday. A hearing in the Texas matter, which includes iHeartMedia, was delayed until later this month.
In a statement at the time, a spokesman for Universal Music said: “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
Universal did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.
The long-simmering tension between Drake and Lamar, who had collaborated early in their careers, exploded into full-on musical beef last spring across eight rapidly released songs that included escalating personal attacks.
On one track, “Family Matters,” Drake questioned whether Lamar’s manager had secretly fathered one of his children and alleged that Lamar had “beat on” his romantic partner and covered it up. Soon after, on “Meet the Grahams,” Lamar equated Drake with Harvey Weinstein, calling him a “pervert” and a “sick man” who “should die” to make the world safer for women.
The following day, Lamar released “Not Like Us,” which includes lyrics like “say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young,” calling the rapper and his crew “certified pedophiles” who should “be registered and placed on neighborhood watch.”
The track — which, according to Drake’s lawsuit, “cloaks cleverly dangerous lyrics behind a catchy beat and inviting hook” — went on to top the Billboard singles chart and has since been streamed more than one billion times on Spotify alone. At the Grammy Awards next month, “Not Like Us” is nominated for five awards, including record and song of the year. The following week, Lamar will headline the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans.
“This lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’” the suit says. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”
While Lamar may not have met the standard for defamation as a defendant — “this lawsuit is not about a war of words between artists,” the suit reiterates — it argues that Universal would not have been in business with Drake since 2009 if it had reason to believe that any allegations of sex abuse were true.
But, as a potential motive for the company promoting “Not Like Us” aggressively, it invokes contract negotiations between Universal and Lamar — who was under a short-term deal with the company that was extended late last year, according to the suit — as well as with Drake, whose contract is up for renegotiation this year.
“By devaluing Drake’s music and brand, UMG would gain leverage to force Drake to sign a new deal on terms more favorable to UMG,” the suit says.
Following the incidents at his home, Drake attempted to inform Universal about the harm the song was causing, including having to remove his young son from his elementary school “due to safety concerns,” according to the lawsuit, but was told that he “would face humiliation if he brought legal action.”
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