KEVIN WINTER / AFP
Drake files a defamation complaint against his label Universal, which he accuses of having promoted the song “Not like us” by Kendrick Lamar in which he calls him a “pedophile”.
Music – A new part in the machine. Drake maintains his legal dispute with rapper Kendrick Lamar. On Wednesday January 15, he sued their joint label Universal Music Group (UMG) for defamation, against a backdrop of accusations of pedophilia in the song Not like us. Rivals for years, they released several vitriolic pieces in 2024 to criticize and attack each other, a classic practice in rap.
Canadian Aubrey Drake Graham, 38, had already accused UMG at the end of November of inflating Kendrick Lamar’s views on the platforms. In two proceedings launched in New York and Texas, he had already accused the 37-year-old Californian of having defamed him; These were not formal complaints but the first procedural steps before possible legal action.
This time, in a civil complaint before the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office, Drake accuses Universal of “approved, published and launched a campaign to create viral buzz from a rap song”. According to this complaint consulted by AFP, this alleged smear campaign “intended to create false allegations that Drake was a child molester and implied that the public would have to respond to them” by boycotting the interpreter of One Dance. In his song, Kendrick Lamar accuses Drake of having relationships with underage girls and calls him a “pedophile”.
Universal denies “any act of defamation”
The Canadian responds that the record company made the choice of “profit of the company on the safety and well-being of its artists”. He denounces the fact of having been the target of “physical threats” (gunshots had injured a security guard at his property in Toronto in May) and to be “bombarded by online harassment”. Universal Music Group promised in a press release “protect (one’s) employees and (one’s) reputation” and denied “any act of defamation” past and present.
Not like uswhich surpassed 900 million streams on Spotify, became one of Kendrick Lamar’s most popular tracks and received several nominations at the upcoming Grammy Awards, including Best Song of the Year. He was also chosen to perform the Super Bowl halftime concert in early February in New Orleans, an immense privilege for an artist in the United States.
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