Drake has filed a second legal petition against Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar’s diss song ‘Not Like Us’.
On Tuesday (26.11.24), Drake accused the major label and publisher of “artificially inflated” streams for the record-breaking tune.
Released in May, the track marked Kendrick’s fifth diss track aimed at his rap rival and came out less than 24 hours after his previous single, ‘Meet the Grahams’.
Drake has now submitted a pre-filing in Texas after his previously filing in New York, and this time, he’s accusing UMG of defamation and “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harbouring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.”
This is in reference to the lyrics: “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophile” and “Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor”.
Drake swiftly fired back on his retaliation track ‘The Heart Part 6’, denying Kendrick’s accusations he is a paedophile.
He rapped: “Speakin’ of anything with a child, let’s get to that now / This Epstein angle was the s***/I expected TikTok videos you collected and dissected / Instead of being on some diss-direct s*** / You rather f****** grab your pen and misdirect s***.”
The latest papers filed are requesting “pre-suit” depositions from UMG and iHeartMedia.
Drake claims UMG “funnelled payments to” iHeart and “its radio stations as part of a pay-to-play scheme.”
It read: “UMG has exclusive control over the licensing of ‘Not Like Us’ and could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed. But UMG chose to do the opposite. 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. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations.”
Drake is not seeking any damages but has requested that UMG confirms the “identities and practices of any direct participants in a pay-to-play scheme, including any intermediaries who may have been involved.”
Kendrick is signed to pgLang, which licenses his releases to UMG’s Interscope, while Drake’s OVO label has a deal with UMG’s Republic for marketing and distribution.