Drake is suing his record label, Universal Music Group, for defamation and harassment, alleging that the company helped to spread a “false and malicious” narrative about him when it promoted and released the diss track “Not Like Us” by his rap foe Kendrick Lamar.
Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, filed a 81-page federal lawsuit Jan. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, which was obtained by TODAY.com.
In his lawsuit, the Canadian rapper alleges that UMG “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track that falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and calls for violent retribution against him.”
Drake is seeking nominal, punitive and compensatory damages, “including general, actual, consequential, and special damages, in an amount to be determined at trial.” He is also asking a judge to order UMG to state that the statements made in “Not Like Us” are false and order them to “stop making statements about the popularity of the Recording, Image, or Video in ‘Not Like Us,’” in addition to paying related attorney fees.
Drake is signed to the UMG division Republic Records while Lamar is signed to UMG’s Interscope division.
Lamar released the blistering “Not Like Us” in May 2024 after his longtime feud with Drake reignited earlier that year, prompting both rappers to release a flurry of diss tracks about each other.
The song quickly topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and has been nominated for multiple awards at next month’s Grammys, including song of the year.
‘Not Like Us’: ‘A dangerous and inflammatory message’
Drake’s legal team, Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, said in a statement Jan. 15 that Drake filed the lawsuit “to hold UMG accountable for knowingly promoting false and defamatory allegations against him.”
“Beginning on May 4, 2024 and every day since, UMG has used its massive resources as the world’s most powerful music company to elevate a dangerous and inflammatory message that was designed to assassinate Drake’s character, and led to actual violence at Drake’s doorstep,” the statement reads.
The suit cites examples of the alleged violence that resulted, including an incident on May 7 when an “armed group of assailants” drove to Drake’s Toronto home where at least one gunman opened fire, wounding the rapper’s security guard.
Another alleged incident occurred on May 8 when a different intruder got onto Drake’s Toronto property after using his hands to dig a hole underneath the security fence. The following day, the suit says another break-in attempt happened.
Drake’s legal team made clear that the rapper was suing UMG and not Lamar himself.
“UMG wants the public to believe that this is a fight between rappers, but this lawsuit is not brought against Kendrick Lamar. This lawsuit reveals the human and business consequences to UMG’s elevation of profits over the safety and well-being of its artists, and shines a light on the manipulation of artists and the public for corporate gain,” the team’s statement concluded.
Read on to learn more about Drake’s federal lawsuit against his own record label.
Why is Drake suing his record label, Universal Music Group?
Drake filed a federal lawsuit against his record label, UMG, on Jan. 15 alleging that the company helped to spread a “false and malicious” narrative about him by promoting and releasing his rap rival Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.”
“Not Like Us,” the lawsuit states, “falsely accuses Drake of being a pedophile and calls for violent retribution against him.”
Drake’s lawsuit notes that the cover image for “Not Like Us” features an aerial photo of Drake’s home in Toronto that’s covered with red markers like those that are used “to identify child sex offenders and their residences on public registries,” the lawsuit alleges.
The suit also details several violent break-in attempts at Drake’s Toronto home that he and his legal team believe were “proximately caused by” the lyrics of “Not Like Us.”
“The lyrics repeatedly accuse Drake of engaging in criminal acts, including by calling him a ‘certified pedophile[]’ and a ‘predator’ who needs to be ‘placed on neighborhood watch,’” the lawsuit states.
Drake and his team allege that UMG chose “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists,” by releasing the single even though they “knew that the salacious allegations against Drake were false.”
Drake’s legal team previously filed a petition in November, which was later withdrawn on Jan. 14, accusing UMG of using payola and bots to boost the popularity of “Not Like Us” on Spotify. The new lawsuit, however, does include similar messaging and repeats some of the same claims.
UMG responded to Drake’s legal petition in November, saying they use “ethical practices” for their campaigns.
“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,” the statement read.
Spotify declined to comment to NBC News at the time of Drake’s complaint. The music streaming service, however, does note on their website that artificial streaming is a major issue and they strictly prohibit “using any third party service that promises streams or playlist placement in exchange for money.”
How has UMG responded to Drake’s lawsuit?
UMG responded to Drake’s lawsuit in a statement on Jan. 15., saying the claims were “untrue” and the idea that the label would want to “harm” any of its artists is “illogical.”
“We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success,” the label said.
“Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
Spotify declined to comment to TODAY.com as of Jan. 17.
What exactly does Kendrick Lamar say about Drake in ‘Not Like Us’?
Among Lamar’s derogatory punchlines about Drake in “Not Like Us,” one of the verses he raps references Drake and pedophilia.
“Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young/ You better not ever go to cell block one,” and later adds, “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles,” a reference to Drake’s 2021 album, “Certified Lover Boy,” he raps in the song.
The song also mentions a “predator” whose name “gotta be registered and placed on neighborhood watch.”
How did the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar start?
Drake and Lamar weren’t always rivals. Early on in his career, Lamar appeared as a guest artist on Drake’s song “Buried Alive Interlude” from his second studio album, “Take Care,” released in November 2011, and he also appeared as a guest on his “Club Paradise Tour” the following year.
However, things changed after Lamar took shots at Drake and other rappers during his guest verses on Big Sean’s song “Control” in August 2013. He appeared to ridicule Drake again in his lyrics during a performance at the BET Hip-Hop Awards in October 2013.
Between 2014 and 2020 the two artists released several diss tracks about each other but the vitriol between the rappers seemed to die down shortly after that.
Then, in October 2023, Drake collaborated with fellow rapper J.Cole on a track called “First Person Shooter.” J.Cole bragged on the track that he, Drake and Lamar were “Big 3” artists in rap, while Drake’s verses compared his stardom to that of Michael Jackson’s.
Lamar responded to “First Person Shooter” in March 2024 in blistering guest verses on Metro Boomin and Future’s collaborative track “Like That,” which rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
Lamar blasted the idea of a “Big 3,” insisting there was only a “Big Me.” He also ridiculed Drake for comparing himself to Michael Jackson while likening himself to Prince.
Lamar’s guest verses prompted Drake to quickly release a new diss track about Lamar called “Push Ups,” in which he called Lamar a “pipsqueak.” Less than two weeks later, Lamar took another swipe at Drake in a song called “Euphoria.”
The diss tracks continued at a breakneck pace until it eventually died down in the summer of 2024.
How successful has ‘Not Like Us’ been?
Both Drake and Lamar have benefited from their renewed beef over the past year. Both artists scored multiple hit songs and received several competing nominations at the 2024 BET Awards.
“Not Like Us,” has been streamed more than a billion times on Spotify, and is nominated for five Grammys 2025 Grammys, including record and song of the year.
Lamar was also tapped to headline the Super Bowl halftime show in New Orleans on Feb. 9.