BEXAR COUNTY, USA – Drake has intensified his legal feud with Universal Music Group, UMG, filing a second pre-action petition in Texas accusing the music giant of defamation and alleging a pay-to-play scheme involving iHeartRadio to promote Kendrick Lamar’s song “Not Like Us.”
The Canadian rapper’s filings claim the song falsely labels him a “certified pedophile” and “predator” and accuse UMG of exploiting the controversy for profit.
In the new petition filed on Tuesday, November 26, 2024, Drake alleges that Universal Music knowingly released Lamar’s track despite its defamatory content.
According to his lawyers, Universal Music could have halted the song’s release or demanded edits to remove the offending material.
Instead, the filing asserts, the label financed and executed a promotional strategy to make the song a viral hit, allegedly at Drake’s expense.
“UMG designed, financed, and then executed a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues,” the filing states.
Drake’s legal team is seeking depositions from UMG and iHeartRadio to gather evidence supporting potential claims for defamation, civil fraud, and racketeering.
The filing follows a similar action submitted in New York a day earlier, where Drake accused UMG of boosting Lamar’s track on Spotify using questionable methods.
UMG has strongly denied Drake’s allegations, issuing a statement to Billboard that described his claims as “offensive and untrue.”
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the company said.
“We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. 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.”
Lamar is not named as a respondent in the filing and has not been accused of any legal wrongdoing.
Legal and Industry Implications
The legal battle comes amid an intensifying feud between Drake and Lamar, which escalated earlier this year through a series of diss tracks.
While personal disputes are common in hip-hop, this case marks a rare instance where insults have led to legal filings, raising questions about the boundaries between artistic expression and defamation.
Drake’s grievances also highlight a growing rift with Universal Music, the label that has been instrumental in his career since his early days under Lil Wayne’s Young Money imprint.
Lamar, too, is closely associated with Universal Music through his licensing deal with Interscope.
While these filings are not yet full lawsuits, they signal a deepening rift between two of UMG’s most high-profile artists and could lead to significant legal and reputational challenges for the label.
