Mark J. Rebilas/Thomas Shea-Imagn Images
Drake was understandably clowned for filing a lawsuit against his own music label last year after firmly losing the battle Kendrick Lamar capped off with the release of “Not Like Us.” Now, the lawyers representing Universal Music Group have gotten in on the fun thanks to what they had to say in a filing arguing it should be dismissed.
It’s been close to a year since Drake found himself engaged in a beef with Kendrick Lamar, and at this point, I feel like most people are aware of what unfolded after that war of words kicked off.
The feud really kicked off at the end of last April as the two men traded barbs on songs they dropped over a captivating few days where Drake tried (and largely failed) to hold his own against the Pulitzer Prize-winning Compton native who eventually released the kill shot in the form of “Not Like Us,” which effectively marked the end of the wart hat the former Degrassi star attempted to continue with one more track before waving the white flag.
That marked the start of The Year of Kendrick, which saw the rapper perform “Not Like Us” five times in a row at a concert over the summer before taking the sweetest victory lap possible by bringing it out during the Super Bowl halftime show.
Drake, on the other hand, made the questionable decision to take the matter to court by suing Universal Music Group—the label both he and Lamar are signed to—while accusing them of illegally paying radio stations and streaming services to promote one of the most commercially successful diss tracks in the history of hip-hop in a lawsuit he filed last November (he also targeted K-Dot for defamation thanks to claims he makes in the song).
It’s very hard to imagine Universal went that route when you consider “Not Like Us” took the internet by storm as soon as it dropped before breaking a number of records on Spotify en route to surpassing a billion streams earlier this year.
According to Variety, the label’s legal team is lobbying to put the matter to rest for good with the motion it filed on Monday while arguing the case should be dismissed, saying Drake’s “attempt to save face for his unsuccessful rap battle with Lamar” has no merit and adding:
“[He] lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated.
Instead of accepting the loss like the unbothered rap artist he often claims to be, he has sued his own record label in a misguided attempt to salve his wounds. Plaintiff’s Complaint is utterly without merit and should be dismissed with prejudice.”
“UMG wants to pretend that this is about a rap battle in order to distract its shareholders, artists and the public from a simple truth: a greedy company is finally being held responsible for profiting from dangerous misinformation that has already resulted in multiple acts of violence.
This motion is a desperate ploy by UMG to avoid accountability, but we have every confidence that this case will proceed and continue to uncover UMG’s long history of endangering, abusing and taking advantage of its artists.”
There’s always a chance Drake ends up winning this, but he’s already lost in the court of public opinion by going this route in the first place.