Drake Drops Lawsuit Against Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us

Rap superstar Drake is suing Universal Music Group (UMG) for defamation and harassment following the release of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us last year.

The song, which was part of a furious exchange between the two stars, accused Drake and his entourage of being “certified pedophiles” who should “be recorded and placed under neighborhood watch.”

In documents filed in New York, Drake’s lawyers accused the record company of launching “a campaign to create a viral hit” from a song that contained “false factual allegations that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”

Universal has yet to respond to the allegations.

The move comes just 24 hours after Drake withdrew a separate lawsuit against UMG and Spotify, in which he accused the two companies of conspiring to artificially increase Not Like Us’ streams, to the detriment of his own music.

In that case, he argued that Universal licensed the song “at significantly discounted rates to Spotify” and used bots to drive additional plays, generating “the false impression that the song was more popular than she actually wasn’t.”

In a statement at the time, Universal told the BBC: “The suggestion that (the company) would do anything to harm any of its artists is offensive and false.”

He added that “no artificial and absurd legal arguments… can obscure the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

Spotify also responded that there was “no economic incentive for users to stream Not Like Us over any of Drake’s tracks.”

The Swedish streaming company then filed a brief opposing Drake’s request, saying it “should be denied.”

His lawyers withdrew the case Tuesday, after meeting with representatives of both companies, according to court documents.

That seemed to put an end to the legal action – until the story took a dramatic turn Wednesday morning.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Drake accused Universal – which distributes both his and Lamar’s music – of prioritizing “corporate greed over safety and security.” well-being of its artists.

His lawyers noted that the Not Like Us artwork was based on an aerial photograph of Drake’s $100 million Toronto mansion, dotted with red markers often used to represent the presence of offenders recorded sex.

Court documents link this artwork to a shooting at the property shortly after the release of Kendrick’s song, calling it “the 2024 equivalent of ‘Pizzagate’.”

The comment referenced a conspiracy theory about an American pedophilia ring operating out of a Washington pizzeria. what led a gunman to open fire at the restaurant in 2016.

Not Like Us was widely seen as the deciding blow in a long-running feud between Drake and Lamar, dating back to the early 2010s.

In the lyrics, Lamar alleges that Drake “likes them young” and accuses him of using other, more credible rappers to boost his notoriety.

Drake responded with a track titled The Heart Part 6, in which he dismissed the allegations, saying, “I’ve never been with anyone underage.” He also claimed to have provided Lamar with “false” information through a double agent.

However, his line failed to garner the same attention as Not Like Us, which debuted at number one on the US chart and attracted over a billion streams on Spotify.

The song is nominated for five awards, including record and song of the year, at the Feb. 3 Grammy Awards. A week later, Lamar will headline the Super Bowl halftime show.

However, the new lawsuit is not aimed at Lamar himself, according to Drake’s lawyers.

“This lawsuit is not about the artist who created Not Like Us,” the court document states.

“Rather, this is entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”