Universal Music Group is asking a judge to dismiss Drake’s lawsuit against them, claiming that the rapper only filed the lawsuit because he lost his rap beef to Kendrick Lamar.
Drake as “a prolific rap feud combatant, having traded diss tracks with a number of artists including Pusha T and Meek Mill,” the lawsuit reads, recalling his previous rap beefs.
“Plaintiff [Drake], one of the most successful recording artists of all time, 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,” part of the lawsuit reads.
UMG claims that Drake taunted Kendrick Lamar in several songs over the years and even claimed that Drizzy also made potentially reputation-damaging allegations against the Compton rapper, including the allegations that he beats the mother of his children, Whitney, adding that “Drake, who had no concerns using UMG’s platform to publish slurs about Lamar during their rap feud, now claims that ‘Not Like Us’ is defamatory.
“Drake fails to state a claim for defamation because ‘Not Like Us’ conveys nonactionable opinion and rhetorical hyperbole, not fact, and because Drake cannot adequately allege that UMG acted with actual malice.”