1:00 PM PT — A spokesperson for Common Music Group tells TMZ … “Not solely are these claims unfaithful, however the notion that we might search to hurt the repute of any artist — not to mention Drake — is illogical. We now have invested massively in his music and our staff all over the world have labored tirelessly for a few years to assist him obtain historic industrial and private monetary success.
“All through his profession, Drake has deliberately and efficiently used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to interact 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.
“We now have not and don’t have interaction in defamation — towards any particular person. On the similar time, we’ll vigorously defend this litigation to guard our individuals and our repute, in addition to any artist who would possibly straight or not directly grow to be a frivolous litigation goal for having carried out nothing extra that write a track.”
Drake shouldn’t be backing down within the battle towards his personal label, actually he is now upped the ante by suing Common Music Group for spreading the “false and malicious narrative” he is a pedophile … TMZ Hip Hop has discovered.
Drake filed the defamation case Wednesday morning in federal courtroom in NYC … ripping UMG for releasing and selling Kendrick Lamar‘s vicious diss observe, “Not Like Us.” Within the docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Drake says UMG knew full nicely Kendrick’s lyrics, and pictures within the music video, referring to Drake as a pedophile have been false and harmful.
Within the go well with he calls Kendrick’s hit — full of “inflammatory and stunning allegations”– was a “gold mine” for UMG … and he says they’d an ulterior monetary motive in selling it.
Drake claims his label was doing all the pieces it might to pump up “Not Like Us” as a result of it knew it will devalue his music and model … and, due to this fact, give UMG leverage in future contract negotiations with Drake.
Have in mind, Drake’s final UMG contract, signed in 2022, was a blockbuster deal price a reported $400 million!
Drake says he is received bot receipts to point out simply how far the label went to show Kendrick’s track into an anthem. In keeping with the go well with, UMG paid a 3rd get together to make use of bots to extend the track’s streams by a minimum of 30 million — and engaged in a “pay for play” scheme with a minimum of one radio promoter.
He claims UMG connected the label “chart-topper” to “Not Like Us,” regardless of understanding that title was based mostly on fraudulent information.
It is also clear Drake’s very conscious of what is going on down in New Orleans subsequent month — within the go well with, he claims UMG was in on getting Kendrick the Tremendous Bowl Halftime gig … so, the track could possibly be carried out on that huge stage, which he calls “one of the vital vital (and considered) cultural occasions of the yr.”
Ya gotta marvel — will the NFL and FOX, which is airing the Tremendous Bowl, enable Kendrick to make use of the pedophile lyrics when he performs??
Curiously, Drake is not going straight after Kendrick within the go well with — actually, he says, “This lawsuit is not concerning the artist who created ‘Not Like Us.’ It’s, as a substitute, completely about UMG, the music firm that determined to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize” the track which it knew contained false claims.
As for the way the track put Drake at risk … he factors out that since Kendrick dropped the megahit there have been a number of shootings at or close to his Toronto mansion, considered one of which ended with considered one of his safety guards getting shot.
The music trade — and followers of Kendrick and Drake — thought Drake was retreating on this authorized battle, as a result of on Tuesday he’d filed a movement to drop a authorized motion he’d filed towards UMG and Spotify in New York state courtroom. Our sources inform us that was merely carried out to clear the best way for this new federal case.
Initially Printed — 7:13 AM PT