Drake granted access to Kendrick Lamar’s contract in UMG lawsuit
A judge has given Drake access to Kendrick Lamar’s recording contract in his ongoing legal battle with Universal Music Group. The Toronto rapper sued UMG in January, accusing them of defamation and harassment over Kendrick’s ‘Not Like Us’.
Earlier this month, Drizzy’s legal team requested access to Lucian Grainge’s emails and text messages, as well as Kendrick’s recording contract, alleging the UMG CEO was personally involved in promoting the diss track.
Drake may have been granted access, but only a redacted version is currently available. His team are seeking the complete text.
“Here, UMG seeks sealing of negotiated contract terms relating to whether and to what extent UMG exercises control over the content and publication of Kendrick Lamar’s creative output,” said a spokesperson for the label.
“This is clearly commercially sensitive information. If these terms were disclosed, then other artists could use them in their own negotiations with UMG (such as by demanding either similar or different treatment) and other record labels could use them when competing with UMG to sign or re-sign artists, including potentially Lamar himself.”
Drake’s team said, “Plaintiff intends to file the Lamar Contract as an exhibit to a motion to compel UMG to, among other things, produce the Lamar Contract without redactions.”
‘Not Like Us‘ included allegations of paedophilia and sexual misconduct with lyrics such as “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor,” and “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles.”
The initial lawsuit claimed Universal “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.”