Last Tuesday, rapper/singer Drake withdrew his lawsuit accusing Universal Music Group and Spotify of conspiring to artificially inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss track, “Not Like Us.”
TMZ Hip Hop reported that the very next day, Drake filed another suit that accuses Universal Music Group for spreading a “false and malicious narrative” through the track, which recently celebrated the milestone of one billion streams.
The outlet said that the defamation case was filed in a New York City federal court. In documents obtained by TMZ, the suit alleges that UMG knew full well that the lyrics and references to Drake in the music video were false and dangerous.
In the suit, Drake claims his label promoted “Not Like Us” because it knew it would devalue his music and brand – and, therefore, give UMG leverage in future contract negotiations with Drake.
In a statement released to Variety, a spokesman for UMG denied Drake’s allegations.
“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,” the spokesman said. “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.”