Drake has secured a partial legal victory in his ongoing lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), as Judge Jeannette A. Vargas ruled that he can view Kendrick Lamar’s Interscope contract.
The decision follows months of discovery disputes, with Drake’s team previously claiming that UMG produced an unreadable, heavily redacted 22-page version of the document.
“[UMG] produced a heavily redacted version of the Interscope Agreement with Kendrick Lamar… the extent of [UMG’s] redactions — which cover the vast majority of the 22-page agreement — render the agreement unreadable and incomprehensible,” his lawyers argued.
Judge Vargas has now permitted access but with significant restrictions. The ruling states that the contract will be filed under seal, meaning only parties directly involved in the case may review it. The public will not gain access to its contents.
“Plaintiff and UMG’s request for permission to file under seal a contract between UMG Recordings, Inc. and Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, as produced by UMG in redacted form with the designation Attorney’s Eyes Only is GRANTED,” the judge wrote.
The court found that UMG sufficiently demonstrated that the material qualified as confidential business information, with Vargas concluding that protecting the label’s interests outweighed public access. She cited the need to preserve UMG’s “business relationships and interests, and the privacy interests of non-parties.”
Drake is seeking to prove that UMG manipulated the success of Lamar’s hit “Not Like Us” and has demanded further documentation. His legal team is pressing for financial records, along with texts and emails from UMG CEO Lucian Grainge. The lawsuit also targets over a dozen executives at the label, suggesting the dispute could widen if more discovery is granted.