UMG’s Laughable Attempt to Dismiss Drake’s Lawsuit Continues

Universal Music Group (UMG) just made their latest move in Drake vs. The Machine, filing a motion to dismiss his lawsuit, and let me tell you—it’s an absolute masterclass in cherry-picking, gaslighting, and playing dumb when convenient.

From misrepresenting Drake’s history in rap battles, to subtly painting him as a hypocrite, to flat-out pretending certain key details don’t exist, UMG’s approach is less about defending themselves in good faith and more about muddying the waters just enough to shift public perception.

So let’s tear apart this slimy legal maneuver piece by piece.

Drake: A Self-Policed Battler vs. UMG’s Distorted Narrative

One of UMG’s biggest attempts at dismissing Drake’s claims revolves around the idea that because Drake has engaged in battle rap before, he has no right to take legal issue with how this battle played out.

To the uninformed, this sounds compelling. After all, Drake has diss records under his belt, most famously against Meek Mill and Pusha T. But here’s where UMG conveniently leaves out a huge chunk of the truth—because the reality is, Drake has always had a line he wouldn’t cross, and he’s been very clear about it.

Take his battle with Pusha T, for example. After “The Story of Adidon,” where Pusha mocked OVO producer Noah "40" Shebib’s multiple sclerosis, Drake himself publicly stated that there are lines in rap battles that should not be crossed. He didn’t respond to Pusha’s track—not because he lost, but because he wasn’t willing to go to those extremes.

Yet now, UMG wants to pretend Drake is just as reckless as Kendrick was in this battle, simply because he’s participated in rap beefs before? If anything, the difference in how far both artists were willing to go proves Drake’s point.

Drake knew he was winning the battle lyrically. There was no need to throw out wild accusations. Kendrick, on the other hand? Well, when the bars weren’t hitting hard enough, he had to start fabricating narratives instead.

If the case wasn’t already a joke, UMG actually had the nerve to claim that “First Person Shooter” was somehow a diss aimed at Kendrick Lamar.

Now let’s all take a moment to reflect on how ridiculous that is.

Where? When? How?

Very few rap fans heard that track and thought, "Oh yeah, this is about Kendrick." The song was a general flex track, featuring J. Cole and discussing who currently sits at the top of hip-hop.

UMG grasping at straws like this only makes them look unserious. If they’re going to list out every lyric they think proves their point, maybe don’t throw in completely baseless claims that barely anybody in hip-hop ever made before Whats the Dirt's breakdown of shots thrown over the years.

The “Death Threat” That Was Never There

And then we have perhaps the most disgusting claim of all—UMG’s laughable insinuation that Drake may have been threatening to kill Kendrick Lamar.

Excuse me?

Nobody—not one single person in the culture—came to this conclusion. Not once. Not anywhere.

It is beyond distasteful for UMG to attempt this angle, not just because it's an outright lie, but because it undermines actual cases where artists have been legitimately threatened or harmed.

They are manufacturing a narrative that never existed, simply to make Kendrick seem like a victim, further into the article they even attempt to switch sides of this argument when claiming Kendrick's symbolism is purely that. That’s not legal defense—that’s propaganda.

The Missing Lyrics From "Meet the Grahams"

But wait! It gets even more interesting. Because after spending paragraphs meticulously listing out every major lyric from this battle, UMG somehow forgets to include the most damning track of them all:

"Meet the Grahams."

Now why do you think that is?

Maybe because if they acknowledged it, they’d also have to acknowledge that:

The diss was entirely personal

It exposed details about Drake’s real-life family members

It contained pure lies and slanders everything that Drakes stands for including lying about him having a daughter

Instead, UMG just casually skips over it, hoping nobody notices.

If you’re going to list out everything, then list everything. The fact that they conveniently ignore the most extreme example of what Kendrick did says everything we need to know about their tactics.

The “No One Thinks Drake is a Pedophile” Defense

Now, this part might actually be the funniest.

UMG’s legal argument literally includes a passage that states:

"No responsible person actually thinks Drake is a pedophile."

Well, congratulations! That’s exactly what Drake is saying. However, since UMG seems to be getting its defense from X, I'm surprised they haven't seen the tweets and videos of people actually believing in such a narrative

The point of his lawsuit is that UMG allowed and promoted a narrative they knew wasn’t true, and their own argument literally proves his point.

But it gets even worse. Because then, they have the nerve to say:

"No reasonable listener would take Kendrick’s lyrics literally."

Oh, really? Is that so?

Then why were there media headlines, social media discourse, and viral debates over whether or not Drake needed to “clear his name”?

Why were people actually spreading this rhetoric as if it held some weight?

If nobody was taking it seriously, then why did it blow up to this level?

UMG is talking out of both sides of their mouth:

On one hand, they pretend Kendrick’s lyrics were harmless and not meant to be taken seriously

On the other, they ignore how much damage those lyrics actually did to Drake’s reputation

You can’t have it both ways. Either words matter, or they don’t. And if they don’t? Then why was this battle so effective at smearing Drake’s name?

Conclusion: UMG is Playing a Slimy Game

This motion to dismiss isn’t about justice, fairness, or even a real legal defense.

It’s about:

Cherry-picking facts while ignoring key evidence

Pretending Drake is just as reckless as Kendrick when history proves otherwise

Making baseless claims that no one in the culture believes

Hoping the public is dumb enough to fall for it

But here’s the problem: hip-hop fans aren’t stupid. We see the contradictions, the slimy tactics, and the blatant dishonesty in how UMG is handling this.

At the end of the day, this battle wasn’t fair from the start—not because of Drake’s lyrical abilities, but because he was fighting against an industry that was actively pushing a narrative against him.

As I've said before...

This wasn’t just a rap battle.

It was a hit job.