DrakeandUniversal Music Groups' legal battle continues to heat up. On June 03, 2025,Drake brought a defamation and harassment lawsuitagainst his and adversaryKendrick Lamar’s joint record company for promoting Lamar’s popular diss song against him titled ‘Not Like Us’. The ‘Laugh Now Cry Later’ rapper seeks undisclosed monetary compensation and the ceasing of the song’s promotion.
While the pre-trial hearing began early in April 2025 in New York, the home base of UMG, the rapper has already won a significant victory in the case by gaining access to classified documents, which include paperwork about Kendrick Lamar.
Drake Has Gained Access To Classified Information In Lawsuit Against Universal Music Group
According toBBC News, rapperDrake has won the right to obtain classified UMG record company documentsaboutKendrick Lamar’s recording contractand the salaries of the top executives of the label.
The federal ruling follows just two weeks afterUMG filed a motion to dismiss Drake’s lawsuit, which resulted in the court’s denial. On April 2, Drake’s lead attorney, Michael Gottlieb, released an official statement referencing the small legal victory: “Now it’s time to see what UMG was so desperately trying to hide.” In response, UMG requested the court to delay handing over the information until the final ruling over the case is announced, which isn’t expected to happen for several months.
In addition,UMG claims that Drake’s lawsuit is frivolousand that he “…seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from [Universal] for distributing that artist’s music.” The record label added “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.”
AlthoughDrake and Kendrick Lamar have had a long-standing feud, which has resulted in several diss tracks made against each other, Lamar’s hit 2024 song ‘Not Like Us’ accused the former of having relationships with underage females. As a result, Drake’s legal team claimed that the song had unjustly damaged his reputation and resulted in harm done against a security guard outside his home just days after the song was released.
But whileKendrick Lamar is not directly involved in the lawsuit, the star has his gripe against Drake. According toThe Times, in Drake’s 2024 diss song against Lamar titled ‘Push Up’, he flew a sling of insults against him, which included his height and shoe size, as well as disparaging comments about his fiancé, Whitney Aflord, which the publication claimed Lamar felt Drake took the beef to a new low. Drake also allegedly further fueled the flames when he released another song against Lamar titled ‘Family Matters’ accusing the former’s manager of being the father one of his children.
