Rapper Drake on Wednesday filed suit against his own label, saying Universal Music Group’s release and promotion of a Kendrick Lamar track dissing him amounted to defamation and harassment.UMG is behind both Drake and Lamar, two superstar rappers who last year exchanged a litany of increasingly vitriolic diss tracks.Lamar’s chart-topping Grammy-nominated “Not Like Us” was the major blow in the war of words, and Drake said its punchlines accusing him of pedophilia saw Universal betray him in favor of profits.In the suit filed in Manhattan’s federal court and seen by AFP, Drake says Universal “approved, published, and launched a campaign to create a viral hit out of a rap track” that was “intended to convey the specific, unmistakable, and false factual allegation that Drake is a criminal pedophile, and to suggest that the public should resort to vigilante justice in response.”In releasing and promoting “Not Like Us,” the Canadian artist born Aubrey Drake Graham, 38, says the record company chose “corporate greed over the safety and well-being of its artists.”The lawsuit cited the track’s promotion as causing a “physical threat to Drake’s safety” as well as a “bombardment of online harassment.”It cited a pre-dawn shooting last May that saw a gunman shoot and wound a security guard at the superstar rapper’s estate in Toronto, and described subsequent break-in attempts.”These events were not coincidental,” the suit says, before detailing the defamation allegations.A Universal representative did not immediately respond to an AFP request for comment.- ‘Monetize allegations’ -Drake — the reigning highest-grossing rapper — is not taking legal action against Lamar, and he is not suing over the lyrics themselves.”This lawsuit is not about the artist who created ‘Not Like Us,'” read the court documents. “It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize allegations that it understood were not only false, but dangerous.”The filing says Universal did so by promoting the song, but also the album image — which Drake says features his actual house — and music video associated with the track.The suit alleges that because Drake’s current record deal with UMG — he’s been with the company for over a decade — is nearing expiration, the label is aiming to devalue his music in a bid to lessen his bargaining power to renegotiate his contract.Lamar, meanwhile, was under a short-term deal with the company extended last year.”UMG’s campaign was successful. The recording cloaks cleverly dangerous lyrics behind a catchy beat and inviting hook,” reads the suit. “Capitalizing on those attributes, UMG used every tool at its disposal to ensure that the world would hear that Drake ‘like ’em young.'””Not Like Us” is up for five Grammys early next month, including the prizes for the year’s best record and best song.Lamar, 37, is also due to helm the exceedingly high-profile Super Bowl halftime show later February in New Orleans.Proving defamation requires that a publisher knowingly distributed false information.The suit emphasizes that Universal wouldn’t have maintained the long-standing business relationship with Drake it has if it believed he engaged in pedophilia or sex abuse.Late last year Drake had filed pre-litigation actions against Universal, which also named Spotify, in a New York state court as well as in Texas.His lawyers withdrew the New York filing as they filed the federal case. A statement from Universal released at the time of that filing said that “the suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.””We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns,” the statement continued. “No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

US businesses across the country are concerned about the economic impact of President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals to raise tariffs and sharply curtail immigration, the Federal Reserve said Wednesday.”More contacts were optimistic about the outlook for 2025 than were pessimistic about it,” the US central bank said in its “Beige Book” survey of economic conditions. However, “contacts in several Districts expressed concerns that changes in immigration and tariff policy could negatively affect the economy,” it said.On the campaign trail, Trump threatened to impose sweeping tariffs of between 10 and 20 percent on all goods entering the United States, and to carry out mass deportations of millions of undocumented immigrants.Whether or not Trump follows through on his plans once he takes office as president on Monday remains to be seen.But manufacturers in a number of districts told the Fed they are already stockpiling inventories “in anticipation of higher tariffs.”In the Philadelphia district, inflation expectations rose on concerns about “deficits, tariffs, and immigration,” the Fed said. And in the Dallas district, contacts “noted concern about disruption from potential retaliatory tariffs on agriculture exports,” and raised concerns that they would have to pass on higher cost to consumers.Concerns in the Atlanta district meanwhile were broad-based, and included “labor shortages, concerns over tariffs, and potential supply chain disruptions at east coast ports that would result from a labor strike,” the Fed said.Despite the worries, businesses across the Fed’s 12 districts reported an overall increase in economic activity in late November and December, the Fed said.Prices increased modestly overall, the Fed continued, adding that contacts had said they expected prices would “continue to rise in 2025, with some noting the potential for higher tariffs to contribute to price increases.”

As Donald Trump prepares to assume power for a second term Monday, avowed admirer Javier Milei of Argentina has his sights set on becoming the US president’s man in Latin America.But while the duo have much in common, analysts do not clearly see what Milei stands to gain politically from a close friendship with his ideological idol.Self-declared “anarcho-capitalist” Milei was the first foreign leader to visit Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Florida estate after the Republican’s November US election victory.The pair share right-wing ideologies, and some personality traits. They are both showmen known to be abrasive towards their detractors, dismissive of “wokeism,” and supportive of cost-cutting and deregulation. Both also have the backing of Tesla, X and SpaceX boss Elon Musk, who has taken note of Milei’s chainsaw-wielding approach to budget-slashing ahead of taking on his own new role as the head of Trump’s “Department of Government Efficiency”.”It is clear that there will be a very strong political affinity: Argentina will be closely aligned with the priorities of the United States, both at a global and regional level,” Ariel Gonzalez Levaggi of the Argentine Council for International Relations told AFP. “Milei has consolidated himself as one of Trump’s most important foreign allies,” added Benjamin Gedan, Latin American head of the Washington-based Wilson Center think tank.The incoming US leader will need an ally in the region as he ramps up pressure on ideological foes Cuba, Nicaragua and Venezuela, while also sparring with Mexico over immigration and with Panama over control of the Panama Canal.But even if he can be of use to Trump in a region where the US leader has few rightwing allies, what does Milei stand to benefit?- In search of funds -The Argentine leader is seeking funds from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), to which his country is already repaying a record $44 billion loan issued with Trump’s support during his first term in office.However, Trump has appointed a Milei critic — former Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) head Mauricio Claver-Carone — as his special envoy to Latin America.Claver-Carone has already said that any talk of a new loan for Argentina was nothing but “an illusion,” a “waste of time.””Perhaps some additional disbursements could be released” from the existing loan, said Gonzalez Levaggi. “But a new deal, a new loan? Unlikely,” even as Argentina’s sky-high inflation has nosedived during Milei’s first year in office.Another difference between the two leaders is on trade.Trump seeks to protect US domestic industry through import tariffs, while Milei is an ardent free market advocate.”In this context, Milei could be left disappointed if Trump imposes new tariffs on the whole world, including on Argentine exports,” said Claudio Loser, a former IMF Western Hemisphere chief. Argentina is a major exporter of beef, wine, dairy and grains.- China’s regional role -Jorge Arguello, who was Argentina’s ambassador to Washington under US presidents Barack Obama, Trump and Joe Biden, says he “never saw a particular interest in Argentina, nor Latin America” in that office.It is only when there is a presence “of external actors like China or Russia that alarms go off” in Washington, he added.China is Argentina’s second-biggest trading partner after Brazil, and Beijing last year extended a currency swap worth billions of dollars that brought much-needed relief for Argentina’s depleted foreign reserves.Despite once vowing he would never make deals with communists, the usually incendiary Milei showed his pragmatic side when he cordially met with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro last November.The reality is that China has a capacity for investment in Latin American infrastructure “that the US cannot offer,” said Alejandro Frenkel, an international relations expert at San Martin University in Buenos Aires.And Milei’s hopes for a free trade agreement with the United States may have to wait for the departure of Trump and his “America First” agenda, the analysts say.