Itβs almost been a year since Kendrick Lamar and Drake engaged in their legendary rap battle. But the obvious loser in the situation seems to keep the events of the beef alive by revisiting them in a new lawsuit.
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On Wednesday, the Toronto rapper filed a defamation and harassment suit accusing Universal Music Group (UMG) of spreading the false narrative that he is a pedophile through Lamarβs now-legendary diss track, βNot Like Us.β In the legal documents, Drakeβs attorneys make it clear that this lawsuit is not about Lamar, who wrote and performed the song, but UMG, whom they claim βsaw an opportunity, seized it, and continued to fan the flames.β
UMG responds to suit
The behemoth music company, which Drake has been signed to for more than a decade, responded swiftly to the statement just hours after the lawsuit was filed in New York federal court.
In a statement released to Variety, a UMG spokesperson said, βNot only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist β let alone Drake β is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.β
They continued, βThroughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth βrap battlesβ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artistβs creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artistβs music.β
UMG closed its response by saying that they βdo not engage in defamationβ and are willing to βvigorously defend this litigationβ to protect their reputation.
In other words, UMG says Drake has used them in the past to win rap battles and is now taking advantage of the legal system to try and silence Kendrick since he lost their rap battle in embarrassing fashion.
Black Twitterβs vicious reaction
Naturally, Black Twitter was quick to clown the 6-God for his questionable legal move, leading to some amusing posts on social media.
One user on X wrote, βDrake is keeping βNot Like Usβ and the narrative alive more than Kendrick is. Thatβs the funniest part about all of this.β
Another user added, βDrake got smoked so hard he was like βnah, this gotta be illegalβ.β
The beef already appeared to do a lot of damage to Drakeβs reputation, but it seems that this lawsuit is making things much and appears to have backfired in his face. Weβll see how he responds to it.
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