In the court filing, which was reviewed by Variety, UMG made it abundantly clear who it viewed as the victor in Drake and Lamar’s escalating beef last summer. Drake “lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated,

Universal Music Group is requesting to dismiss Drake’s federal defamation lawsuit against the label over Kendrick Lamar’s blockbuster song “Not Like Us,” saying in a legal filing that the rapper’s lawsuit is a “misguided attempt to salve his wounds” after he “lost a rap battle that he provoked.

In a court filing Monday, Universal Music Group stated that Drake “lost a rap battle that he provoked and in which he willingly participated.”