Universal Music Group (UMG) has requested the court to dismiss the defamation lawsuit filed by rapper Drake. UMG argues that Drake’s claims are meritless, stating that he initiated and participated in a rap battle he subsequently lost and that his lawsuit is an attempt to avoid accepting the outcome.
According to BusinessDay, Drake sued UMG for defamation in January, accusing UMG of promoting a “false and malicious narrative” about him via the content of the lyrics, single artwork, and music video for Kendrick Lamar’s hit single, and Drake’s diss track, Not Like Us.
The music company argues in its motion filed recently that Drake’s “complaint is utterly without merit and should be dismissed with prejudice.”
UMG wrote in its court filing that Drake, who is one of the most successful recording artists of all time, lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated.
“Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds,” UMG said.
Both Drake and Lamar release their records via UMG and its Republic Records and Interscope, respectively. Not Like Us (Interscope), recorded by Lamar, was released as part of a rap feud with Drake on May 4, as part of a series of three diss tracks, all released within a few days of each other (the other tracks are Euphoria and Meet The Grahams).
“Not Like Us” was a commercial and artistic success becoming the best-selling rap recording of 2024 and saw Kendrick Lamar win Grammy Awards for Record of the Year, Best Music Video, and Song of the Year.
UMG argues that “Not Like Us,” like all of the recordings in the feud between Drake and Lamar, and like the many notorious diss tracks throughout rap’s history, consists of a series of nonactionable opinions and rhetorical hyperbolic insults.
“Drake has been pleased to use UMG’s platform to promote tracks levelling similarly incendiary attacks at Lamar, including, most significantly, that Lamar engaged in domestic abuse and that one of Lamar’s business partners and managers is the true father of Lamar’s son,” UMG said.
UMG also explains to the court that they would be severely chilled if Drake’s suit were permitted to proceed because diss tracks are a popular and celebrated art form centred around outrageous insults.
UMG further notes that Drake also alleges that “Not Like Us” constitutes “Second Degree Harassment,” but sues under a criminal statute that does not proscribe speech and has no private right of action.”
Drake’s attorney, Mike Gottlieb, stated, “UMG is attempting to frame this as a mere rap battle to divert attention from the real issue: they profited from dangerous misinformation that incited violence and are now facing accountability for their greed.”
Meanwhile, in a state court in Texas, Drake’s lawyers are pushing for discovery in a separate legal petition that claims UMG had paid radio stations and other music media to play Not Like Us, without informing listeners of the fact.
Drake’s lawyers allege that UMG engaged in deliberate, irregular, and inappropriate business practices – including covert and illegal pay-to-play (“payola”) deals to create a record-shattering spread of “Not Like Us.”
