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, which is behind both Drake and Lamar, adamantly denied the accusations, saying "the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist -- let alone Drake -- is illogical" given the company's longtime investment in helping him "achieve historic commercial and personal financial success."

Last year the two superstar rappers exchanged a litany of increasingly vitriolic diss tracks, with Lamar delivering the major blow with his chart-topping, Grammy-nominated song "Not Like Us."

In his suit, Drake said Universal betrayed him in favor of profits by promoting the song with punchlines that accuse him of pedophilia.

In the documents filed in Manhattan's federal court, 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."

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 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 said, before detailing the defamation allegations.

Drake, the reigning highest-grossing rapper, is not taking legal action against Lamar, and he is not suing over the lyrics themselves. (AFP)