Drake’s legal team claims UMG is trying to avoid public accountability for allegedly silencing, exploiting, and discarding artists.
Drake is arguing Universal Music Group (UMG) is trying to dodge public accountability for what they call a pattern of mistreatment toward artists following a hearing on the label’s motion to dismiss the rapper’s defamation lawsuit.
Drake’s attorneys allege UMG has long avoided scrutiny by keeping its alleged misconduct behind closed doors, but a trial would drag those actions into the light.
“UMG is desperate to see this case not move forward because the company can’t hide its misconduct in a courtroom the way it does in the boardroom,” a spokesperson for Drake told AllHipHop. “Soon, in addition to facing concerned regulators and investors, the leadership of music’s most powerful label will have to answer for the damage it has caused to every artist that has been silenced, exploited, endangered or discarded.”
UMG Push For Judge To Toss Drake’s Lawsuit
Drake’s legal team urged a judge to let his defamation lawsuit proceed at the hearing on Monday (June 30).
The case stems from Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” which includes the lyric “certified pedophile” — a line Drake claims caused serious reputational harm and was amplified by UMG.
UMG’s lawyers defended the track as part of Hip-Hop’s tradition of over-the-top lyrical sparring. “Trash-talking in the extreme,” they argued, “is not, and should not be treated as, statements of fact.”
UMG also pushed back by pointing out that Drake has used similarly aggressive language in his own music and willingly engaged in a rap battle with Lamar. Neither artist appeared in court.
Judge Jeannette Vargas did not issue a ruling but raised questions about how the average listener interprets lyrics in the genre. “Who is the ordinary listener?” she asked. “Is it someone who’s going to catch all those references? There’s so much specialized and nuanced to these lyrics.”
Drake’s legal team also accused UMG of manipulating streaming data for “Not Like Us” by using bots to inflate numbers, a move they say hurts all artists by reducing per-stream payouts.
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