Drake Sues His Own Label for Defamation Over Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' Calling Him a Pedophile
Drake is ready to take Universal Music Group (UMG) to court.
TMZ reports that the rapper is officially suing Universal Music Group for defamation over allegations made in Kendrick Lamar's hit song, "Not Like Us," in which Lamar alleges that Drake is a pedophile.
The outlet reports that Drake accuses UMG of spreading a "false and malicious narrative".
In the lawsuit, Drake claims UMG knew about Lamar's lyrics and images in the music video that alleges he has a history with underage girls. He also claims that UMG purposefully promoted "Not Like Us" in an attempt to ruin his image and music to make future negotiations with the rapper more in their favor.
On the song, Lamar raps: "Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles.
This lyric is a reference to Drake's album Certified Lover Boy. Elsewhere, he makes other jabs at Drake, rapping: "Why you trollin' like a b--ch? Ain't you tired? Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A minor."
More lyrics include, "To any b***h that talk to him and they in love. Just make sure you hide your little sister from him."
Drake alleges that UMG used bots to increase the song's streams and engaged in a "pay for play" agreement with radio. The lawsuit also alleges that UMG had a hand in getting Lamar the Super Bowl Halftime gig this year in order for the song to be promoted on a massive stage.
It is worth mentioning that Drake is not suing Lamar personally over the song, instead he is coming specifically after UMG and their attempt to "publish, promote, exploit and monetize" on false claims.
Drake claims that the song put him in danger, TMZ reports, and cites the futile shootings near his mansion that ended with one of his security guards getting shot.
The legal move comes after Drake previously withdrew his lawsuit against UMG and Spotify over accusations of payola.
Spotify has denied the allegations that they were a part of a payola scheme.
"Spotify has no economic incentive for users to stream Not Like Us over any of Drake's tracks," a spokesperson told Music Business World.
UMG also slammed allegations made against them by Drake.
"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," they said via Billboard.
Interestingly, sources tell TMZ that the reason that Drake withdrew the previous legal paperwork was done to intentionally clear the way for the new one to take its place.
-- Originally published on Music Times
