Universal Music Group has posted a fiery response to Drake’s lawsuit around Kendrick Lamar’s brutal diss track, “Not Like Us,” in which he accuses the company — his label for more than a decade — of defamation. Early Wednesday, Drake sued the company for defamation and harassment, claiming it spreading the “false and malicious narrative” that he is a pedophile via Kendrick Lamar’s track, “Not Like Us.”
In response, a UMG spokesperson said: “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist — let alone Drake — 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.
“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.
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“We have not and do not engage in defamation — against any individual,” the statement concludes. “At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more that write a song.”
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.”
Although Lamar’s lyrics are at the heart of the lawsuit, it clearly places the blame on Universal for releasing, distributing and promoting the song: “This lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’” it suit reads. “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.”
Ironically, Universal distributes both Lamar’s and Drake’s music — both artists own their recent master recordings via their companies — and has for the majority of both artists’ careers. The suit claims that because Drake’s current deal with UMG is nearing the end of its term, the company is attempting to devalue his music and profile in an effort to gain more-favorable terms in a renegotiation.
Drake originally filed a legal petition against Universal and Spotify — and another naming iHeartMedia — in November, but withdrew the first petition on Tuesday, clearing the way for the lawsuit. However, Drake seems to have backed down on claims that UMG and Spotify conspired to falsely boost the song’s streaming numbers; those allegations were strenuously denied by both companies.
Variety will have more on the situation as it develops.