Drake has launched a second legal action against Universal Music, accusing the record label of defamation over Kendrick Lamar’s song Not Like Us, which was released amid the pair’s feud earlier this year.
The rapper alleges the label could have prevented the release of a track that “falsely accused him of being a sex offender” but instead used its incendiary lyrics to drive viral success and financial gain.
Legal documents filed by Drake’s team claim Universal orchestrated a strategy to make the song a “viral mega-hit,” generating widespread attention and revenue.
Universal has dismissed these accusations as “offensive and untrue,” asserting that its promotional practices adhere to the highest ethical standards.
The latest filing, a “pre-action petition,” requests a court order compelling Universal to preserve evidence related to the case.
Filed in Texas, it also targets iHeartRadio, a major US radio network that allegedly played the song over 25 million times in the months following its release.
Drake’s lawyers suspect Universal engaged in a “pay-to-play scheme” involving covert payments to iHeartRadio, though they admit these allegations remain unverified.
This move comes a day after Drake accused Universal of artificially inflating Lamar’s streaming numbers on Spotify and paying influencers to promote Not Like Us.
Both Universal and iHeartRadio have denied wrongdoing.
Central to Drake’s grievances is the claim that Universal knowingly released a song with defamatory accusations, portraying him as a “certified paedophile” and “predator.”
The song, widely seen as a decisive blow in the long-running feud between the two rappers, debuted at number one on the US charts and has since been nominated for four Grammy Awards, including Song of the Year.
Drake fired back with a diss track, The Heart Part 6, denying the allegations and asserting that he had planted false information about himself through a double agent.
However, the song was later removed from his social media.
Both Drake and Lamar release music under Universal subsidiaries, with Drake licensing his work through Republic Records and Lamar through Interscope.
This legal dispute marks a rare and escalating clash between two of the music industry’s most influential artists and their shared label.
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