The fallout from the Drake-Kendrick rap battle continues to be ongoing, and UMG is blasting Lawbrey’s lawsuit, calling his allegations “astonishing.”
As BOSSIP beforehand reported, Drake filed the primary lawsuit in November 2024. In January 2025, he withdrew the New York criticism and refiled it as a federal defamation case. In Drake’s UMG lawsuit, he claims that UMG, in collaboration with Spotify, illegally boosted “Not Like Us” on streaming companies. It’s his perception that this was performed as a result of his contract was up for renewal, that means UMG was invested in seeing Drake’s downfall, so negotiations had been of their favor.
In response to the lawsuit, UMG instructed Billboard, “The suggestion that UMG would do something to undermine any of its artists is offensive and unfaithful. We make use of the best moral practices in our advertising and promotional campaigns. No quantity of contrived and absurd authorized arguments on this pre-action submission can masks the truth that followers select the music they need to hear.”
Nonetheless, Drake doubled down and amended the lawsuit, including more moderen occasions, together with Lamar’s 2025 Tremendous Bowl efficiency and the 2025 Grammy Awards. In line with Selection, he alleges that UMG promoted Lamar’s Tremendous Bowl efficiency and consented to “Not Like Us” being performed on the Grammys, additional defaming the Nokia rapper.
However, it seems to be like UMG isn’t taking Drake’s lawsuit mendacity down.
In a current court docket submitting, the label has reportedly moved to dismiss the amended criticism, calling Drake’s new allegations “astonishing.” Selection stories that UMG’s authorized staff argues that Drake’s claims are baseless and a thinly veiled try to save lots of face after what they see as a decisive loss within the rap battle.
Drake’s UMG Lawsuit Reportedly Misses Key Particulars
The label’s response to Drake UMG lawsuit reportedly doesn’t mince phrases, suggesting that Drake’s deal with the Tremendous Bowl efficiency and the omission of sure lyrics solely highlights the weak spot of his argument.
“As Drake concedes, Lamar’s Tremendous Bowl efficiency didn’t embrace the lyric that Drake or his associates are ‘licensed pedophiles’ (i.e., the alleged ‘Defamatory Materials’ that’s on the coronary heart of this case). The main target of Drake’s new claims—that ‘the biggest viewers for a Tremendous Bowl halftime present ever’ didn’t hear Lamar name Drake or his crew pedophiles—betrays this case for what it’s: Drake’s assault on the business and inventive success of the rap artist who defeated him, moderately than the content material of Lamar’s lyrics,” the movement reads per Selection.
They look like framing the lawsuit as an assault on inventive expression and the pure consequence of a public feud that Drake himself willingly engaged in. The movement to dismiss suggests UMG is mentioning the irony of Drake, an artist identified for provocative lyrics himself, now claiming defamation. The label is seemingly able to battle again towards what they understand as a frivolous try to rewrite the narrative of Kendrick and Drake’s extremely publicized rap conflict.
“Nowhere within the hundred-plus web page ‘authorized’ blather written by Drake’s legal professionals do they hassle to acknowledge that Drake himself has written and carried out massively profitable songs containing equally provocative taunts towards different artists. Nor do they point out that it was Drake who began this specific change. Apparently, Drake’s legal professionals imagine that when Drake willingly participates in a performative rap-battle of music and poetry, he will be ‘defamed’ despite the fact that he engages in the very same type of artistic expression,” an UMG spokesperson instructed Selection.
The case is at the moment nonetheless within the discovery section, during which Drake and his authorized staff have entry to paperwork like Kendrick Lamar’s contract. A choose ought to determine on UMG”s movement to dismiss within the coming months.
