Drake sues Universal Music for defamation related to Kendrick Lamar diss track [Video]

Drake is battling his own record label over a song that is the lynchpin of a now legendary hip-hop feud.

In a lawsuit against UMG Recordings, Inc., brought Wednesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the Canadian rapper and actor has accused the label of defamation in the publishing and promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s hit “Not Like Us.” Drake is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. Lamar is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit.

The suit begins with what Drake says happened in May 2024, when a security guard he employed was shot on the grounds of his Canadian estate.

“In the middle of the night on May 7, 2024 an armed group of assailants drove up to the Toronto house in which Drake and his family resided. Drake was inside,” according to the suit. “The car stopped in front of the residence, …