Drake has filed a second authorized petition towards Common Music Group (UMG), this time claiming the corporate ought to have prevented the discharge of Kendrick Lamar’s blockbuster diss monitor “Not Like Us” as a result of it’s defamatory, Billboard stories. Drake alleges, by attorneys, that the music damages his repute by “falsely accusing him of being a intercourse offender, partaking in pedophilic acts, harboring intercourse offenders, and committing different felony sexual acts.” The Bexar County, Texas, submitting additionally accuses UMG of funneling funds to iHeartRadio in a pay-to-play promotional scheme.
The brand new submitting follows a separate petition, in New York, alleging that UMG and Spotify conspired to illegally increase the monitor’s streams utilizing bots, undisclosed funds, and biased suggestions. Neither motion constitutes a lawsuit; as a substitute, they’re “pre-action filings” designed to acquire data to assist Drake’s claims for a future lawsuit.
In response to the primary submitting, a Common Music Group spokesperson denied Drake’s claims, writing, “The suggestion that UMG would do something to undermine any of its artists is offensive and unfaithful. We make use of the best moral practices in our advertising and marketing and promotional campaigns. No quantity of contrived and absurd authorized arguments on this pre-action submission can masks the truth that followers select the music they wish to hear.”
“Not Like Us” immediately grew to become a serious, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard Scorching 100. It additionally lately helped Kendrick Lamar rating a number of nominations on the Grammy Awards. Lamar continued to snipe at Drake on his new album, GNX.
As Selection notes, neither Drake nor Kendrick Lamar is signed on to Common Music Group. As an alternative, Drake is signed to his personal OVO, and Lamar is signed to pgLang. Drake licenses his music to UMG’s Republic for advertising and marketing and distribution, whereas Lamar does the identical with UMG’s Interscope.
