Drake Doubles Down: Rapper Sues His Label, Universal Music, for Defamation Over Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ Diss Track

variety.com:

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music Although Drake withdrew his legal petition against his label, Universal Music Group, on Tuesday, he doubled down Wednesday, suing the company for defamation and harassment, spreading the “false and malicious narrative” that he is a pedophile via Kendrick Lamar’s brutal diss track, “Not Like Us,” according to the lawsuit, which was viewed by Variety.

In the documents, Drake claims that UMG knew that Lamar’s lyrics and images in the song’s music video, were false and dangerous, and that it “chose corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.

In controversy,” it continues, “UMG saw an opportunity, seized it, and continued to fan the flames.” The suit, filed in the U.S.

District Court for the Southern District of New York, claims that Universal “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.” “Not Like Us” was one of the biggest hits of 2024, topping Luminate’s U.S.