Drake Sues UMG For Defamation Over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us"

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Drake is now accusing UMG of even more wrongdoing.

Drake has made a second legal filing against Universal Music Group, accusing the company of defamation over the release of Kendrick Lamar's hit diss track, "Not Like Us." He made the pre-action filing in a Texas court, late Monday, claiming UMG could have prevented the release of the song “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.” The move comes after he filed a similar pre-action petition in New York, earlier in the day, accusing the company and Spotify of allegedly artificially boosting Lamar's diss track.

“UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” Drake’s lawyers wrote, as caught by Billboard. “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.”

Read More: Drake Hits UMG & Spotify With Bombshell Allegations Over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" Streams

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ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 9: Rapper Drake performs onstage during "Lil Baby & Friends Birthday Celebration Concert" at State Farm Arena on December 9, 2022, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Prince Williams/Wireimage)

The new filing also accuses UMG of funneling payments to iHeartRadio as part of a "pay-to-play scheme," in exchange for promoting the song on radio. Also similar to the first lawsuit, Lamar, himself, is not listed as a respondent in the filing and is not personally accused of wrongdoing. On "Not Like Us," he raps, "Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles," in reference to Drake.

UMG responded to the first filing on Monday night, writing in a statement: “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. 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.” Be on the lookout for further updates in the case on HotNewHipHop.

Read More: Kendrick Lamar “wacced out murals” Lyric Breakdown

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About The Author
Cole Blake
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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