Daven Tamayo

Drake files defamation suit against Universal over Kendrick Lamar track

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

<div><iframe class="instagram-media instagram-media-rendered" id="instagram-embed-0" src="https://www.instagram.com/p/C872ijfO9F6/embed/?cr=1&amp;v=14&amp;wp=540&amp;rd=https%3A%2F%2Fod2-workbench-web.abs-cbn.com&amp;rp=%2F#%7B%22ci%22%3A0%2C%22os%22%3A4939806.299999952%7D" allowtransparency="true" allowfullscreen="" frameBorder="0" height="877" data-instgrm-payload-id="instagram-media-payload-0" scrolling="no" style="background:white;max-width:540px;width:calc(100% - 2px);border-radius:3px;border:1px solid rgb(219, 219, 219);box-shadow:none;display:block;margin:0px 0px 12px;min-width:326px;padding:0px"></iframe></div><script async="" src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>NEW YORK -- Rapper Drake on Wednesday filed suit against his own label, saying Universal Music Group&#x27;s release and promotion of a Kendrick Lamar track dissing him amounted to defamation and harassment.UMG -- which is behind both Drake and Lamar -- adamantly denied the accusations, saying &quot;the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist -- let alone Drake -- is illogical&quot; given the company&#x27;s longtime investment in helping him &quot;achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.&quot;Last year the two superstar rappers exchanged a litany of increasingly vitriolic diss tracks, with Lamar delivering the major blow with his chart-topping, Grammy-nominated song &quot;Not Like Us.&quot;In his suit, Drake said Universal betrayed him in favor of profits by promoting the song with punchlines that accuse him of pedophilia.In the documents filed in Manhattan&#x27;s federal court and seen by AFP, Drake says Universal &quot;approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track&quot; that was &quot;intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.&quot;The Canadian artist born Aubrey Drake Graham, 38, says the record company chose &quot;corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.&quot;The lawsuit cited the track&#x27;s promotion as causing a &quot;physical threat to Drake&#x27;s safety&quot; as well as a &quot;bombardment of online harassment.&quot;It cited a pre-dawn shooting last May that saw a gunman wound a security guard at the superstar rapper&#x27;s estate in Toronto, and described subsequent break-in attempts.&quot;These events were not coincidental,&quot; the suit said, before detailing the defamation allegations.<div>&#x27;Monetize allegations&#x27; </div>Drake -- the reigning highest-grossing rapper -- is not taking legal action against Lamar, and he is not suing over the lyrics themselves.&quot;This lawsuit is not about the artist who created &#x27;Not Like Us,&#x27;&quot; read the court documents. &quot;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.&quot;Drake&#x27;s filing says Universal did so by promoting the song, but also the album image -- which Drake says features his actual house -- and a music video associated with the track.Universal&#x27;s Wednesday statement vowed to &quot;vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation.&quot;&quot;We have not and do not engage in defamation,&quot; said the company.The label noted that in the past Drake has &quot;intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth &#x27;rap battles&#x27; to express his feelings about other artists.&quot;Filing suit now amounted to an effort to &quot;weaponize the legal process to silence an artist&#x27;s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist&#x27;s music,&quot; the company said.<div>&#x27;Cleverly dangerous lyrics&#x27;</div>Drake&#x27;s suit alleges that because the artist&#x27;s current record deal with UMG is nearing expiration, the label is aiming to devalue his music -- what he dubbed a bid to lessen his bargaining power to renegotiate his contract.Lamar, meanwhile, was under a short-term deal with the company extended last year.&quot;Not Like Us&quot; is up for five Grammys at the annual gala early next month, including the prizes for the year&#x27;s best record and best song.Lamar, 37, is also due to helm the exceedingly high-profile Super Bowl halftime show later February in New Orleans.&quot;UMG&#x27;s campaign was successful. The recording cloaks cleverly dangerous lyrics behind a catchy beat and inviting hook,&quot; reads the suit.&quot;Capitalizing on those attributes, UMG used every tool at its disposal to ensure that the world would hear that Drake &#x27;like &#x27;em young.&#x27;&quot;Proving defamation requires that a publisher knowingly distributed false information.The suit emphasizes that Universal wouldn&#x27;t have maintained the long-standing business relationship with Drake it has if it believed he engaged in pedophilia or sex abuse.<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

Rapper Drake on Wednesday filed suit against his own label, saying Universal Music Group's release and promotion of a Kendrick Lamar track dissing him amounted to defamation and harassment.

Rapper Drake on Wednesday filed suit against his own label, saying Universal Music Group's release and promotion of a Kendrick Lamar track dissing him amounted to defamation and harassment.