Universal Music Group has denied new allegations made by Drake’s lawyers that its British chair and chief executive Lucian Grainge had a “role in and knowledge of the scheme to defame and harass” the Canadian rapper by peer Kendrick Lamar, and that as such the label should “collect, review and produce” communications by Grainge.
Drake is suing UMG – his label Republic’s parent company – over its release of Lamar’s 2024 diss track Not Like Us, which contains the line: “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young … Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles.” The artwork for the global hit single features an image of Drake’s home dotted with icons used to identify the homes of registered sex offenders.
Drake has denied the allegations, and in January filed a lawsuit against UMG – not Lamar himself – alleging that it “approved, published and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal paedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response”.
The label initially responded that the suit was “utterly without merit”.
Lucian Grainge said that he never heard the song prior to its release. Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images
Drake’s latest motion argued that Drake believes “Grainge was personally involved in decisions made regarding the marketing and promotion of [Not Like Us] around its release”.
Lawyers for UMG have now called for Drake’s motion to be denied, labelling it a “transparent attempt to use discovery to harass UMG and force it to waste time and resources out of spite” and that his “attempts to show Sir Lucian’s relevance are so strained that they defy credulity”.
In legal documents, Grainge declared that he never heard the song prior to its release.
Lawyer Rollin A Ransom continued: “The premise of Drake’s motion – that he could not have lost a rap battle unless it was the product of some imagined secret conspiracy going to the top of UMG’s corporate structure – is absurd. Sir Lucian is the CEO of a multinational enterprise; his days are spent determining and implementing global strategy, not vetting individual tracks or album covers or driving the release and promotional plans for any one recording.”
Drake previously agreed not to seek documents from Grainge, the letter states. “And even if Sir Lucian had any responsive documents, they would surely be captured by discovery from UMG’s other document custodians, who were actually responsible for releasing and promoting Not Like Us. Drake does not come close to meeting his burden of showing that Sir Lucian must be a custodian.”
The letter concludes: “Drake argues that Sir Lucian must be a custodian for no other reason than because Drake asked for him. That is entirely inconsistent with the law and is particularly inappropriate given that Drake’s request is clearly based on a desire to harass UMG, rather than for a legitimate reason.”
Drake has not responded to the new filing. The Guardian has contacted his representatives.
UMG is seeking to have the case dismissed entirely, claiming in March that Drake “lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated … diss tracks are a popular and celebrated art form centred around outrageous insults, and they would be severely chilled if Drake’s suit were permitted to proceed”.
