Drake has filed a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar’s controversial track “Not Like Us,” per theguardian.com.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleges that UMG orchestrated “a campaign to create a viral hit” through the promotion of false and potentially dangerous allegations against the Canadian superstar, is seeking damages reported to be in excess of $100 million.
The track, which has garnered over one billion Spotify streams, contains explicit accusations that Drake’s legal team describes as “false factual allegations” that could incite “vigilante justice.”
The legal action comes just one day after Drake withdrew a separate lawsuit against UMG and Spotify over alleged streaming manipulation of “Not Like Us.” That case had accused the companies of artificially boosting the song’s performance through reduced licensing rates and bot-generated plays.
Most concerning to Drake’s legal team is the song’s artwork, which features an aerial view of the rapper’s $100 million Toronto mansion marked with symbols commonly associated with sex offender registries. The lawsuit draws parallels between this imagery and the infamous “Pizzagate” conspiracy, citing a recent shooting incident at Drake’s property as evidence of the real-world dangers posed by such implications.
Notably, Kendrick Lamar himself is not named as a defendant in the suit. Drake’s legal team emphasised that their focus is solely on UMG’s corporate decision-making, stating the case “is not about the artiste who created ‘Not Like Us’” but rather the company that chose to “publish, promote, exploit and monetise” what they claim to be knowingly false allegations.
The lawsuit casts a shadow over Lamar’s upcoming Super Bowl halftime show performance and his five Grammy nominations for “Not Like Us,” while raising broader questions about record label liability in artiste disputes.
Universal Music Group has yet to respond to the new allegations.
