Rapper Drake has made countless headlines over his lawsuit accusing Universal Music Group (UMG) of defamation via promotion of Kendrick Lamar diss track "Not Like Us." Now, UMG has fired back, claiming Drake is attempting to "weaponize the legal process."

On January 15th, UMG denied the allegations stemming from Drake's lawsuit, filed earlier in the day through a New York court. "The notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist – let alone Drake – is illogical," UMG declared in part.

"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."

While Drake's lawsuit asserts that the music giant knew the disses were false, leading UMG to prioritize "corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists," UMG says Drake is no newcomer to rap beefs.

"Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists," UMG stated.

The label swore to defend Lamar and any artist hit by a lawsuit going forward: "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."

While Drake's lawsuit is not aimed at Lamar himself, the decision to take action against UMG for inflating the profile of "Not Like Us" – one dating back to November – has been met with intense ridicule and condemnation. Drake has been a member of UMG since the start of his rap career, having had deals with Young Money and Republic – both under the umbrella of Universal.

Oh, and don't forget: this all comes just one day after Drake met with UMG and Spotify reps to withdraw his lawsuit, which seemed to signal an end to his legal pursuit.