During a venomous back-and-forth barrage of diss tracks final yr, the rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar accused one another of phoniness, hypocrisy and abuse. But whereas followers anointed Lamar’s chart-topping single “Not Like Us” the battle’s knockout blow, Drake noticed the track’s punchlines invoking pedophilia as one thing way more insidious — and with real-world penalties.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in federal courtroom, the artist born Aubrey Drake Graham sued Universal Music Group, the report firm behind each rappers, for defamation and harassment, calling its launch and promotion of “Not Like Us” an instance of valuing “company greed over the security and well-being of its artists.”
The go well with, introduced within the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses Universal of getting “authorised, printed, and launched a marketing campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap observe” that was “meant to convey the precise, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a legal pedophile, and to recommend that the general public ought to resort to vigilante justice in response.”
Noting that the duvet artwork for “Not Like Us” incorporates a photograph of Drake’s Toronto residence dotted with markers meant to symbolize the presence of registered intercourse offenders, the criticism invokes a shooting at the residence days after the track’s launch that injured a safety guard — calling it “the 2024 equal of ‘Pizzagate’” — and cites two different tried trespassers within the days that adopted.
The go well with was introduced on behalf of Drake by Michael J. Gottlieb, a accomplice on the agency Willkie Farr & Gallagher, who has beforehand represented the proprietor of the Washington pizzeria focused by the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theorists and the election employees falsely accused by Rudolph W. Giuliani of aiding a false plot to steal the 2020 presidential election.
In an announcement on Wednesday, Universal Music Group referred to as the claims each unfaithful and “illogical,” pointing to its longstanding and profitable enterprise relationship with Drake.
“We have invested massively in his music and our staff around the globe have labored tirelessly for a few years to assist him obtain historic business and private monetary success,” the label stated. “Throughout his profession, Drake has deliberately and efficiently used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to have interaction in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to specific his emotions about different artists. He now seeks to weaponize the authorized course of to silence an artist’s artistic expression and to hunt damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.”
Universal added that it could combat the case by itself behalf, in addition to to guard “any artist who would possibly instantly or not directly turn into a frivolous litigation goal for having achieved nothing greater than write a track.”
In November, Drake had initiated pre-litigation actions in opposition to Universal in state courtroom in New York and Texas, naming Spotify and the radio conglomerate iHeartMedia as potential contributors in an elaborate scheme to advertise “Not Like Us” utilizing bots and payola. On Tuesday, representatives for Drake withdrew the sooner submitting in New York in opposition to Universal and Spotify in favor of the federal lawsuit filed Wednesday. A listening to within the Texas matter, which incorporates iHeartMedia, was delayed till later this month.
The long-simmering rigidity between Drake and Lamar, who had collaborated early of their careers, exploded into full-on musical beef final spring throughout eight quickly launched songs that included escalating private assaults.
On one observe, “Family Matters,” Drake questioned whether or not Lamar’s supervisor had secretly fathered one among his kids and alleged that Lamar had “beat on” his romantic accomplice and lined it up. Soon after, on “Meet the Grahams,” Lamar equated Drake with Harvey Weinstein, calling him a “pervert” and a “sick man” who “ought to die” to make the world safer for ladies.
The following day, Lamar launched “Not Like Us,” which incorporates lyrics like “say, Drake, I hear you want ’em younger,” calling the rapper and his crew “licensed pedophiles” who ought to “be registered and positioned on neighborhood watch.”
The observe — which, in keeping with Drake’s lawsuit, “cloaks cleverly harmful lyrics behind a catchy beat and welcoming hook” — went on to high the Billboard singles chart and has since been streamed multiple billion times on Spotify alone. At the Grammy Awards subsequent month, “Not Like Us” is nominated for 5 awards, together with report and track of the yr. The following week, Lamar will headline the Super Bowl halftime present in New Orleans.
“This lawsuit is not concerning the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,’” the go well with says. “It is, as an alternative, completely about UMG, the music firm that determined to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood weren’t solely false, however harmful.”
To show defamation, a public determine should not solely present that false data was printed, broadcast or spoken, harming their repute, however that the writer did so whereas realizing that the knowledge was false or with substantial doubts about its accuracy.
While Lamar might not have met that customary as a defendant — “this lawsuit is just not a few confrontation between artists,” the go well with reiterates — it argues that Universal wouldn’t have been in enterprise with Drake since 2009 if it had cause to consider that any allegations of intercourse abuse had been true.
But, as a possible motive for the corporate selling “Not Like Us” aggressively, it invokes contract negotiations between Universal and Lamar — who was underneath a short-term cope with the corporate that was prolonged late final yr, in keeping with the go well with — in addition to with Drake, whose contract is up for renegotiation this yr.
“By devaluing Drake’s music and model, UMG would achieve leverage to drive Drake to signal a brand new deal on phrases extra favorable to UMG,” the go well with says.
Drake additionally accuses Universal of participating in questionable practices to advertise the track, as hinted at within the pre-litigation filings final yr, which sought to acquire additional data and protect related documentation associated to a possible case.
According to the lawsuit, the label “and its brokers additional put a thumb on the size by covertly providing monetary incentives to 3rd events to deceptively stream the Recording on streaming platforms, to play the Recording on the radio, and to in any other case promote and endorse the Defamatory Material, all with out ever publicly disclosing the funds.”
Following the incidents at his residence, Drake tried to tell Universal concerning the hurt the track was inflicting, together with having to take away his younger son from his elementary college “on account of security issues,” in keeping with the lawsuit, however was advised that he “would face humiliation if he introduced authorized motion.”
Content Source: www.nytimes.com