A high-stakes conflict is rippling by means of the music trade as Lucian Grainge, chief govt of Universal music Group, pushes again in opposition to Drake’s accusations of sabotage over Kendrick Lamar’s blistering diss monitor. Grainge maintains he had no prior data of Not Like Us earlier than it dropped—a declare that surfaces simply as Drake weighs his future with the label and readies his forthcoming album, Iceman. The dispute has now spilled into the courts, pulling UMG’s high brass into the fray.

Court filings reported by Billboard and HipHopDX present Drake looking for entry to Grainge’s non-public emails and textual content messages tied to Not Like Us. His attorneys are additionally demanding inside data that would reveal how the monitor—and its incendiary visuals—reached the general public. In a sworn declaration, Grainge acknowledged, “I had never heard the recording ‘Not Like Us,’ nor ever saw the corresponding cover art or music video, until after they were released by Interscope Records.” While acknowledging his function in managing UMG’s funds, he dismissed the concept that he permitted or promoted the track as “groundless and indeed ridiculous.”

Pushback on Sabotage Claims

Grainge has additionally rejected any suggestion that UMG sought to undermine Drake, calling such allegations unfounded. He identified that the corporate has invested “hundreds of millions of dollars” in Drake’s profession, together with buying his recording catalog and publishing rights—a dedication he says runs counter to any intent to hurt him. The govt went additional, accusing Drake of channeling sources into private vendettas reasonably than addressing disputes head-on. He implied the lawsuit could serve extra to court docket media consideration and affect contract talks than to resolve substantive points.

The confrontation has sparked hypothesis over Drake’s subsequent transfer—and what a public rift may imply for one in every of music’s most profitable partnerships. It has additionally revived long-running questions on inventive management, loyalty, and the spectacle of high-profile feuds in hip-hop. However the court docket guidelines, the case may go away lasting marks on how main labels deal with disputes over inventive content material—and on the extent to which executives form, or protect themselves from, an artist’s most provocative work.