Universal Music Group has filed a motion to dismiss Drake’s federal defamation lawsuit.
UMG hopes Drake lawsuit is withdrawn
UMG hopes the judge throws out the Drizzy case, accusing the company of slandering the rap star by distributing Kendrick Lamar’s “Don’t Like Us,” a song referring to Drake as a child predator, according to court documents obtained by XXL on Monday (March 17). UMG called Drake a willing participant in Rap Battle because the result was not supported by him.
“The plaintiff was one of the most successful record artists of all time, losing the rap battle he caused and willing to participate,” the document read. “Instead of accepting the loss as an unpopular rap artist he often claims to be, he sued his own record label to mislead his wounds.
UMG also uses Drake’s lyrics to him. The document quotes the lyrics of “Taylor Freestyle” by Drake’s Kendrick Lamar Diss, who uses the AI voices of other rappers to mock K-dot for the rap battle. Specifically, Drake said in the voice and rap of the late Tupac Shakur, “We need an incompetent West Coast victory, the man/called him for me/call me/talk me about the young girl he likes him, it’s my gift/heard on the Budden podcast, it’s true.”
Drake filed two former petitions against UMG in courts in New York and Texas last November, suing UMG in January. Court documents accused the company of colluding with Spotify and IheartMedia to artificially “dislike us” through robots and Payola. Drake has since canceled legal action in New York. Recently, he recently settled with IheartMedia after agreeing to provide documents to prove his innocence.
XXL has contacted Drake’s attorney.
