"The industry is upset at Drake badly" — DJ Akademiks says UMG is going to "humble" Drizzy by refusing to support his next album

DJ Akademiks has recently claimed that Drake's upcoming album might not perform as well as his older releases. A HotNewHipHop article published on January 30 revealed that the Universal Music Group (UMG) is not going to support the God's Plan rapper's next studio album. Akademiks said on his live stream:

"The industry is upset at Drake badly. The word on the street is that when Drake drops next, they're gonna humble him. I promise you. I've talked to them all. They say they're gonna humble him."

The Everyday Struggle co-host continued:

"And not humble him by doing anything crazy or weird. They're gonna humble him because the things they claim they've done for him, they will never do. I don't know what that means. That's the promise I heard."

Per the DJ, UMG's intention to "humble" the Worst Behavior rapper comes in the wake of Drizzy suing the group for defamation in relation to their promotion of Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us.

Akademiks also brought up The Weeknd's upcoming album, Hurry Up Tomorrow, in his stream, theorizing that the industry wants the album to do better than Drake's upcoming collaborative album with PartyNextDoor. Neither artist has announced a release date for their album yet.

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UMG called Drake's defamation lawsuit "illogical"

DJ Akademiks' claims about UMG planning to "humble" the One Dance rapper upon his next album release come weeks after the music group denied all the claims made in his defamation lawsuit.

Per NPR News, UMG's statement about the lawsuit reads:

"Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist—let alone Drake—is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success."

UMG further claimed that Drizzy had "intentionally and successfully" distributed his music through UMG throughout his career, also engaging in "conventionally outrageous" rap battles with other artists to express his feelings about them.

However, now that the tables have turned against him, the record label stated that Drizzy is trying to "weaponize the legal process to silence an artist's creative expression" and get UMG to pay him damages for distributing Lamar's diss track. The statement concludes with:

"We have not and do not engage in defamation—against any individual. At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more than write a song."

The defamation lawsuit mentioned in UMG's statement was filed by Drake earlier this month, on January 15, 2025, in New York's Southern District Court.

In the lawsuit, the Ice Melts rapper claimed that the lyrics of Lamar's Not Like Us "advance the false and malicious narrative that Drizzy is a p*dophile," which UMG released and promoted.

Drizzy's lawsuit further claimed:

"The recording cloaks cleverly dangerous lyrics behind a catchy beat and inviting hook. Capitalizing on those attributes, UMG used every tool at its disposal to ensure that the world would hear that Drake 'like 'em young'."

The lawsuit also claimed that the outcome of the song's popularity resulted in three attempted home invasions at his Toronto residence last spring. The lawsuit further reads:

"UMG may spin this complaint as a rap beef gone legal, but this lawsuit is not about a war of words between artists. This lawsuit involves no claims against Kendrick Lamar or any other artist; instead, it is about UMG — the publisher and exclusive rights holder of Lamar's music, as well as Drake's — and its malicious decision to publish and promote the song."

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Graham's attorney alleged in the lawsuit that the reason behind UMG's heavy promotion of Not Like Us was to devalue Drake's brand in order to get a better negotiation at the time of re-signing his contract deal.