Drake is suing Common Music Group for defamation. The case was filed in New York Metropolis federal courtroom Wednesday morning, accusing UMG of spreading “false and malicious narrative.”
In response to TMZ Hip-Hop, the go well with addresses Common releasing and selling Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” The go well with claims the label was nicely conscious of Lamar’s lyrics, photographs within the music video, and the way allegations of Drake being a pedophile had been each false and harmful.
The lawsuit known as “Not Like Us” a “gold mine” for the label, constructed on “inflammatory and surprising allegations.” However why? Drake believes that UMG operated towards his model to affect future contract negotiations.
The go well with doubles down in bot utilization, stating the corporate used bot receipts to extend the streams by at the least 30 million. Moreover, the go well with accuses UMG of taking part in “pay for play” with a radio promotion firm. The go well with states UMG known as the track a “chart-topper,” however the information behind it was fraudulent.
Drake additionally highlights the upcoming Tremendous Bowl efficiency, stating the label helped Lamar get the job to diss him at “probably the most vital (and considered) cultural occasions of the yr.”
However what about Kendrick particularly? The lawsuit highlights: “This lawsuit is just not concerning the artist who created ‘Not Like Us.’ It’s, as a substitute, solely about UMG, the music firm that determined to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize.”
Drake acknowledged the track put him in peril, highlighting shootings outdoors his Toronto dwelling.
Drake’s new lawsuit towards UMG over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us”:
“It was simply three days after UMG initially revealed the Recording and Picture that Drake was focused at his Toronto home by armed intruders within the 2024 equal of ‘Pizzagate.'”https://t.co/EVhVle8tsx pic.twitter.com/fMwDvoWQLp
— Meghann Cuniff (@meghanncuniff) January 15, 2025
Earlier as we speak, information broke about Drake ending one pursuit of authorized motion towards Common Music Group and Spotify over allegedly amplifying Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” streams.
Salute to Bryson “Growth” Paul who picked the inside track of Drizzy’s Frozen Moments, LLC submitting a withdrawal order of petition with the New York Supreme Court docket on Jan. 14. This concludes the present authorized chapter with no monetary obligations to both get together.
There was no opposition to the withdrawal order type Spotify. Common “reserved its place on the matter.”
The brand new authorized submitting reads:
“Please take discover that petitioner and movant Frozen Moments, LLC, by its attorneys Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, hereby withdraws its order to indicate trigger in search of pre-action disclosure and preservation of sure paperwork and communications from respondent UMG Recordings, Inc. and pre-action disclosure of sure paperwork and communications from respondent Spotify USA Inc., with displays initially filed in New York Supreme Court docket On November 25, 2024.”
Want some extra readability? Our good friend Brian at Audiomack provided a little bit of context:
The discontinuance means the case won’t transfer ahead in courtroom as filed. The withdrawal suggests Frozen Moments (Drake) and UMG reached a non-public decision OR Drake’s authorized group reassessed the authorized deserves of their petition. Spotify mainly stated, “That every one sounds good” lol https://t.co/6pFS9Dk3uE
— Z (@BrianZisook) January 15, 2025
It’s value noting Drake nonetheless has a submitting set for a Jan. 28 listening to in Texas towards UMG and iHeartRadio.
Beforehand, Spotify responded to Drake’s authorized motion, accusing the streaming big and Common Music Group of amplifying Kendrick Lamar’s streams for “Not Like Us.”
In a authorized submitting, Drake acknowledged Spotify boosted the streams, to which they reply, calling the allegations “false” and calling the authorized motion a “subversion of the traditional judicial course of.”
Spotify says there isn’t a proof to assist Drake’s allegations of utilizing bots, and extra, it denies that there isn’t a deal to assist the one. “The predicate of Petitioner’s whole request for discovery from Spotify is fake,” Spotify’s authorized group wrote, in line with Billboard. “Spotify and UMG have by no means had any such association.”
Moreover, Spotify was important of Drake’s authorized motion, together with making a “pre-action” as a result of the accusations had been believed to be baseless and would have been shortly dismissed.
“What petitioner is in search of to do right here … is to bypass the traditional pleading necessities … and procure by means of pre-action discovery that which it could solely be entitled to hunt had been it to outlive a movement to dismiss,” Spotify’s attorneys added. “This subversion of the traditional judicial course of must be rejected.”
