Drake has dropped a second legal filing about “Not Like Us,” this one adding iHeartRadio to his list of alleged offenders — and bringing up the specter of suing for defamation over the Kendrick Lamar diss track.
On Tuesday (November 26), Billboard reported that Drizzy had added a second so-called “pre-action” petition — a request to a court for specific information before a lawsuit is filed — to the one that became public the previous day. Unlike the first one, which was filed in New York, this one was filed in Texas.
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Specifically, per the outlet, the new petition names iHeartRadio as the recipient of payola from Universal Music Group as part of an alleged illegal plan to get “Not Like Us” on the airwaves.
In addition, Drizzy claims that UMG released K.Dot’s now-Grammy-nominated song despite knowing that the track “falsely accus[es] him of being a sex offender.” The petition says that the Canadian superstar now has enough evidence to bring a defamation claim against the company.
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The earlier petition, filed in a Manhattan court on Monday (November 25), alleges that UMG used bots, payola and other methods to inflate Kendrick’s chart-topping song.
“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” the docs read. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”
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The filing also alleges that the label paid Spotify to promote “Not Like Us” to users searching for unrelated songs and artists. Additionally, it claims UMG paid Apple to have Siri intentionally redirect users requesting songs from Drake’s catalog, instead offering “Not Like Us” as a result. It also claims the company used bots to burnish the song’s numbers.
Drake asked the court to order UMG and Spotify to gather all relevant documents ahead of a pending lawsuit.
According to The Independent,, UMG has so far “refused to engage” over the issue – telling Drake to sue Kendrick instead.
UMG responded to Variety.
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“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” a rep for the company told the publication. “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.”
