It's been a wild 12 hours or so for Drake. Last night, an agreement was reached between his camp and UMG and Spotify to withdraw the New York pre-action petition. In November, the Canadian rapper filed one against the two companies for allegedly "inflating" the numbers for Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." The alleged "scheme" used bots, payola, and etc. to do so. Ever since, Drake's has been low-hanging fruit for the internet for deciding to follow through with this initially. However, this petition is being tossed at no "costs to any party." The other filed in Texas is still on the table though. If you remember that one includes iHeartRadio.
There, Drake accused them, as well as UMG, of boost airplay of the diss record even though it labels him as a pedophile. In a way it has more to do with the defamation aspect. Now, with the reports today of Drake filing another lawsuit against his parent record label in regard to the "false" allegations within "Not Like Us," it's got us wondering if this relates back to the Texas filing. Speaking of this suit, he's alleging that these "inflammatory and shocking allegations" were a "gold mine" for UMG despite them possibly being untrue.
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Drake's Battle With UMG Is Far From Over
He and his legal team are making sure though that this isn't a lawsuit against Kendrick Lamar. However, "This lawsuit is not about the artist who created 'Not Like Us.' It is, instead, entirely about UMG, the music company that decided to publish, promote, exploit, and monetize." Drake is alleging that UMG approved of this song so they could have all the power moving forward in future contract talks.
However, it's worth noting that he views this "false and malicious narrative" as dangerous. According to the documents, Drake is citing fear for his safety due to UMG approving the cover art for "Not Like Us." As you know, it's The Boy's home, The Embassy. A handful of shootings took place there already, with one injuring his security guard after the song's release.
