Drake’s latest legal moves are being categorized as an effort to “silence” his fellow artist in a statement released by Universal Music Group (UMG).
After withdrawing his legal petition against Spotify and UMG on January 14, Drake’s legal counsel turned around and filed a lawsuit against UMG claiming they mounted a campaign to devalue his name and music by boosting Kendrick Lamar’s ”Not Like Us” diss track.
In addition to claiming they knew Lamar’s allegations on the song were untrue, the lawsuit alleges UMG knowingly instigated the beef for profit by promoting the song in a multi-pronged global marketing ploy that enlisted bots, streamers and content creators and entire platforms.
In a response an official with UMG shared with Variety on January 15, not only does the label deny Drake’s claims have any validity, it also suggests he’s using the lawsuit to stop Lamar for doing what they’ve helped him do to other artists his entire career.
“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 statement reads. “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.”
As the statement continued, UMG accused Drake of attempting to “weaponize” the legal system through his recent filings. “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,” the statement read. “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.”
The statement concludes with UMG seemingly taking up sides with Lamar while also staking their claim to fight the legal battle against Drake to the bitter end. “We have not and do not engage in defamation — against any individual,” the statement reads. “At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more that write a song.”
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