Drake makes another legal move against Universal over ‘Not Like Us’

For the second straight day, Drake has taken legal action against Universal Music Group, this time in Texas, over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track Not Like Us.

It follows a similar filing in New York on Monday, in which Drake alleges UMG falsely pumped up the popularity of Not Like Us on Spotify and other streaming services.

The two court moves have taken the bitter beef between the two hip-hop superstars to a whole new level, with the parent company of the labels for both men now pulled directly into the fight.

Tuesday’s filing in Bexar County alleges UMG engaged in “irregular and inappropriate business practices” to get radio airplay for Not Like Us, including making illegal payments to San Antonio-based iHeartMedia. The petition, a precursor to a potential lawsuit, seeks depositions from corporate representatives of both companies.

The filing takes aim at UMG for allegedly knowing that “the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artistes, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in paedophilic acts, harbouring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.”

The filing points out that “the song calls Drake a ‘certified paedophile,’ a ‘predator,’ and someone whose name should ‘be registered and placed on neighbourhood watch.’”

The petition says Drake could sue UMG for defamation, among other claims.

A UMG representative did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the new filing. In a Monday statement in response to the New York filing, the company said the “suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artistes is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.”

An email to an iHeartMedia representative seeking comment was also not immediately answered.

The New York petition is also a precursor to a potential lawsuit, and alleges UMG fired employees seen as loyal to Drake “in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes”.

The back-to-back legal manoeuvres represent a major and possibly unprecedented escalation of a hip-hop feud, especially with the label representing two of the biggest stars in music sitting at the centre of it.

Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner who is set to headline the next Super Bowl halftime, were occasional collaborators more than a decade ago.

That changed when Lamar began taking public jabs at Drake starting in 2013. The fight escalated steeply earlier this year.

Not Like Us, the wildly popular Lamar single released in May, was an especially vicious moment in a flurry of duelling tracks from the two artistes.