Drake files federal lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar diss

Drake is slamming his own music distributor, Universal Music Group, over his springtime beef with rap rival Kendrick Lamar.

The Canadian rapper filed a federal lawsuit in the Southern District of New York on Wednesday aimed at UMG, according to court documents obtained by USA TODAY, and alleged "corporate greed" in their promotion of the Lamar song, which alleges that Drake is a "certified pedophile."

USA TODAY has reached out to Drake's reps for comment. Drake has previously denied Lamar's claims.

The rapper's lawyers say he "informed" UMG about the "tangible harm" that the song had caused, including incidents naming his 7-year-old son Adonis which involved violence, threats and financial damage, though he claims the music label "refused to do anything to help."

"It was just three days after UMG originally published the Recording and Image that Drake was targeted at his Toronto house by armed intruders in the 2024 equivalent of 'Pizzagate,'" the lawsuit states, referring to the 2016 conspiracy theory stemming from rumors of a child sex trafficking ring allegedly operating out of a pizza restaurant, with the myth linked to Democratic presidential candidate and ex-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Universal Music Group says Drake is trying to 'silence an artist’s creative expression'

In a Wednesday statement to USA TODAY, a spokesperson for UMG said, "Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist — let alone Drake — 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."

"Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth 'rap battles' to express his feelings about other artists," the statement continued. "He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music."

The statement concluded, "We have not and do not engage in defamation — against any individual.  At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song."

Drake sues UMG, claims label 'intentionally' tried to make him a 'pariah'

Drake's lawyers allege that despite a relationship stretching over a decade, "UMG intentionally sought to turn Drake into a pariah, a target for harassment, or worse." The rapper's attorneys also claim the label ignored his inquiries "because it would profit from damaging Drake’s reputation."

The lawsuit notably explains that the suit is "not about the artist who created 'Not Like Us.' It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize" the song, according to court records obtained by USA TODAY.

In an alarming part of the suit, Drake alleges that he pulled Adonis out of the elementary school he went to at the time and once school ended for summer break, he "arranged for his son and mother to leave Toronto entirely."

Drake dropped original UMG, Spotify complaint before bombshell new lawsuit

The rapper, legally born Aubrey Graham, on Tuesday axed his original legal proceedings, in which he accused the music label and Spotify of engaging in a "scheme to ensure" Lamar's diss track, "Not Like Us," "broke through" on multiple streaming platforms.

He filed the new petition Tuesday in New York Supreme Court, withdrawing his request for the court to order that the companies hand over evidence related to his claims, otherwise known as pre-action discovery (Spotify had originally filed an opposition to the discovery, while UMG had not yet filed one, per the court documents obtained by USA TODAY).

Drake, UMG and Spotify "met and conferred" Tuesday, according to the court documents, and Spotify had "no objection to the withdrawal and discontinuance."

Drake's reps previously declined to comment on him dropping the original complaint.

Drake, Kendrick Lamar feud explained

The roots of Lamar and Drake's feud go back more than a decade to 2013, though things quickly intensified this past spring as the two traded bars and barbs with shocking allegations.

In a petition filed in November in New York Supreme Court, the Canadian rapper accused Universal Music Group and Spotify of engaging in a "scheme to ensure" Lamar's diss track, "Not Like Us," "broke through" on multiple streaming platforms.

Drake also claimed UMG used underhanded tactics to garner more listeners for the Lamar song on Spotify and radio stations, which resulted in "Not Like Us" breaking a few Spotify records and landing at No. 1 twice on the Billboard Top 100.

"UMG's schemes to artificially inflate the popularity of 'Not Like Us' were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope (Records) to maximize their own profits," Drake's petition claims. He suspects UMG engaged in racketeering through bribery as well as deceptive business practices and false advertising.

The November filing in New York named Frozen Moments, LLC as the petitioner. Drake is a manager of the LLC, per Florida's Division of Corporations.

"The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue," the music corporation said in a statement to USA TODAY in November. "We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear." Spotify previously declined to comment.

(This story was updated with new information.)

Contributing: Caché McClay, Bob Mehr, The Nashville Tennessean

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drake sues Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar 'Not Like Us'