Drake’s Record Label Called His ‘Not Like Us’ Legal Action ‘Offensive’ and ‘Absurd’
After stepping back from his feud with Kendrick Lamar over the summer, Drake has accused his record label of artificially boosting the success of the song “Not Like Us.” The diss track soared to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 and, according to many who followed the feud between the rappers, gave Lamar a definitive victory over Drake. Months after its release, lawyers for Drake have filed legal papers accusing Universal Music Group of defamation and illegally boosting Lamar’s track.
Drake accused his record label of artificially boosting ‘Not Like Us’
On Nov. 25 and 26, Drake’s lawyers filed two motions against UMG, the label for both Drake and Lamar. The filings are “pre-action” petitions which aim to gather information necessary for an eventual lawsuit.
“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” Drake’s attorneys wrote in the first filing, per Billboard. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”
In a second filing to a Texas court, his attorneys claimed UMG paid iHeartRadio to promote “Not Like Us” on the radio. It also claimed the label knew Lamar’s accusation that Drake was a “certified pedophile” was false, but they chose to release it regardless.
“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, per a separate Billboard article. “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.”
The label called Drake’s filing over ‘Not Like Us’ ‘offensive’
While UMG and iHeartRadio did not immediately respond to the second filing, they pushed back against the claims of the first. In a statement, the label denied engaging in illegal promotion tactics.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the company said. “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.”
He addressed the feud in 2013
The feud between Drake and Lamar began long before this summer. In 2013, Lamar took aim at Drake on the Big Sean song “Control.” Drake responded with the song “The Language.”
“Where it became an issue is that I was rolling out an album while that verse was still bubbling, so my album rollout became about this thing. What am I supposed to say? Nah, we’ll be buddy-buddy?” Drake told Vibe Magazine in 2014. “Mind you, I never once said he’s a bad guy [or] I don’t like him. I think he’s a f***ing genius in his own right, but I also stood my ground as I should. And with that came another step, which then I have to realize I’m being baited and I’m not gonna fall. Jordan doesn’t have to play pickup to prove that he could play ball, no offense. But I’m not gonna give you the chance to shake me necessarily, ’cause I feel great. There’s no real issue.”
Lamar recently released the song “Wacced Out Murals,” which seemingly shut down any possibility of a truce between the two.
