Drake has launched a second lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s song “Not Like Us,” accusing the music giant of defamation and claiming it could have prevented the release of the track “accusing him of wrong to be a sex offender.”
A day after filing a lawsuit in New York accusing UMG of illegally promoting Lamar’s track on Spotify, Drake’s company filed similar accusations in a Texas court in connection with the radio giant. iHeartRadio. The new complaint, filed Monday evening and made public Tuesday, claims that UMG “funneled payments” to iHeart as part of a “pay-for-stream scheme” to promote the song on the radio.
However, the filing also contains new and crucial details regarding Drake’s grievances with UMG, the label he spent his entire career with. He claims UMG knew Kendrick’s song “falsely” accused him of being a “certified pedophile” and a “predator” but decided to release it anyway.
“UMG could have refused to broadcast or distribute the song, or required that the offending material be edited and/or removed,” Drake’s lawyers write. “But UMG chose to do the opposite. UMG conceived, financed and then executed a plan to turn “Not Like Us” into a viral mega-hit, in order to exploit the negative impact on Drake and his companies to provoke consumer hysteria and generate, of course, massive income. This plan succeeded, probably beyond UMG’s wildest expectations. »
Like the complaint filed Monday in New York, the new request filed in Texas is not yet a legal action, but a preliminary filing aimed at taking depositions from key figures at UMG and iHeart, in order to obtain more information to support Drake’s accusations in a future trial.
In seeking this information, Drake’s lawyers say they already have enough evidence to bring a “defamation action” against UMG, but could also add civil fraud and racketeering charges, depending on what they say. will discover during the depositions.
UMG and iHeartRadio did not immediately respond to requests for comment regarding this new filing. Lamar is not named as a defendant in this case and is not legally accused of any wrongdoing.
In response to the complaint filed yesterday, Universal Music Group issued a statement to Billboard: “The notion that UMG would do anything to harm any of its artists is offensive and false. We apply the highest ethical standards in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No artificial and absurd legal arguments in this preliminary request can hide the fact that it is the fans who choose the music they want to listen to. »
Like the explosive motion filed Monday, the new case filed in Texas marks a significant new escalation in the high-profile conflict between Drake and Lamar, who exchanged attacks in music over several months earlier this year. Although such feuds are common in the hip-hop world, few people believed that either party would take legal action over these insults.
This situation also represents a deepening of the divide between Drake and UMG, the label with which he built his career – first by signing with Lil Wayne’s Young Money label, distributed by Republic Records, before signing directly with Republic. Lamar, too, has spent his entire career with UMG and is currently under a licensing deal with Interscope.
In his new petition, Drake essentially accuses the music giant of using illegal methods to unfairly favor one of its artists over the other.
“Before approving the song’s release, UMG knew that the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of one of America’s most prominent artists. “UMG, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilia, harboring sex offenders, and committing other sex crimes,” his lawyers write.
