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Drake is taking part in chess, not checkers. On Wednesday (Jan. 15), lower than 24 hours after dismissing his first of two authorized petitions in opposition to Common Music Group, the Extra Life creator filed a defamation swimsuit in federal court docket over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
The brand new lawsuit claims that UMG “accepted, printed and launched a marketing campaign to create a viral hit from a rap monitor” that was “meant to convey the particular, unmistakable and false factual allegation that Drake is a prison pedophile.” All through the Mustard-produced monitor, Lamar known as the Toronto artist a “licensed pedophile” and “69 God,” along with the notable “I hear you want ’em younger” line.
Apparently, Drake shouldn’t be truly focusing on the Compton MC. “This lawsuit shouldn’t be in regards to the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’” authorized paperwork obtained by Billboard learn. “It’s, as a substitute, fully about UMG, the music firm that determined to publish, promote, exploit and monetize allegations that it understood weren’t solely false however harmful.”
Elsewhere, the submitting revealed that Drake tried to settle the claims with UMG privately, even talking with the label’s CEO Lucian Grainge, whom he reportedly inked a $400 million cope with in 2022. Per the rapper, the world’s largest music firm mentioned he would “face humiliation if he introduced authorized motion — presuming that the general public could be unable to know UMG’s position in exploiting and benefiting from this dispute.”
The swimsuit roughly doubles down on most of the factors launched within the “Nonstop” hitmaker’s earlier petitions. UMG is being accused of utilizing bots and payola to spice up the aforementioned diss monitor in an try to devalue his model and music.
Elsewhere, Drake argued that “Not Like Us” — which used his Toronto mansion, The Embassy, for its cowl — “subjected him to the danger of bodily violence.” He then cited a drive-by taking pictures, presumably referring to the incident that left certainly one of his safety guards hospitalized in Might 2024. In keeping with his attorneys, the five-time Grammy Award winner was “left with no alternative however to hunt authorized redress in opposition to UMG.”