Drakes attorneys say United Music Groups misconduct cant stay hidden much longer.

BY Malcolm Trapp / 7.1.2025

Key Takeaways:

  • Drakes legal team is escalating a defamation case tied to Kendrick Lamars Not Like Us.
  • The lawsuit claims United Music Group promoted damaging allegations and used bots to boost the diss tracks reach.
  • The case highlights how viral moments like the Super Bowl can influence legal and cultural narratives in Hip Hop.

On Monday (June 30), Drakes legal team appeared in a Manhattan federal courtroom, urging a judge to let his defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group move ahead.

UMG, of course, would love to see the entire case get thrown out, but Drakes side clearly isnt backing down without a fight. In their initial suit, the Toronto rappers attorneys claimed that the worlds biggest music company decided to publish, promote, exploit and monetize allegations of pedophilia in Kendrick Lamars Not Like Us.

Some of the lyrics, including Lamars certified pedophiles bar, were even cited in court, according to VIBE. A spokesperson for the Gods Plan rapper later issued a statement expanding on their position. UMG is desperate to see this case not move forward because the company cant hide its misconduct in a courtroom the way it does in the boardroom, they wrote on Tuesday (July 1).

It continued, Soon, in addition to facing concerned regulators and investors, the leadership of musics most powerful label will have to answer for the damage it has caused to every artist that has been silenced, exploited, endangered or discarded.

Among the other claims in the suit, Drake accused UMG of approving, publishing and launching a campaign to create a viral hit from a rap track using bots. He also alleged that his and Lamars shared label worked to paint him as a criminal pedophile.

Though Lamar isnt the one being sued, Not Like Us is clearly at the center of it all. The diss spent three non-consecutive weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, got a massive boost from the Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show, and later swept up five Grammy Awards that same February.