Losing gracefully was never an option. After filing a legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify yesterday (November 25), alleging that the streams for Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" were inflated, Drake has filed yet another legal action — this time accusing UMG of defamation, Billboard reports.
In the new filing in Texas court made public today, the rapper made similar allegations against his longtime record label, alleging this time that UMG "funnelled" payments to iHeartRadio to promote the song at radio as part of a "pay-to-play scheme," despite knowing that Lamar's diss track "falsely accused [Drake] of being a sex offender."
"UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed," wrote Drake's legal team. "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."
Like yesterday's (November 25) petition in New York court, the rapper's new claim isn't quite a lawsuit. Instead, it's what's known as a pre-action, which aims to take depositions from key figures at the accused companies to obtain more information that may support Drake's allegations in a future suit.
However, Drake's attorneys claim that they already have enough evidence to pursue a "claim for defamation" against UMG — but they're considering adding claims of racketeering and civil fraud based on what the depositions uncover.
While UMG has yet to publicly respond to this new legal action, they issued the following statement in response to the prior one accusing the label of paying off Spotify to inflate the "Not Like Us" streaming numbers: "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."
Lamar himself is not named as a respondent in the action, and is not legally being accused of any wrongdoing.