Drake has filed a second authorized declare in opposition to Common Music Group, this time accusing the corporate of defaming him by releasing Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
In a “pre-action” petition filed in Texas federal courtroom on Monday night time, the Toronto rapper alleged that UMG “funneled funds” to the radio conglomerate iHeartRadio as a part of a “pay-to-play scheme” to extend radio airplay of Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss observe, “Not Like Us.” As a result of the tune included “false” claims by Lamar that Drake is a “pedophile” and a “predator,” Drake contends that each UMG and iHeartRadio aided in defaming his character.
“UMG … may have refused to launch or distribute the tune or required the offending materials to be edited and/or eliminated,” Drake’s attorneys wrote. “However UMG selected to do the other. UMG designed, financed after which executed a plan to show ‘Not Like Us’ right into a viral mega-hit with the intent of utilizing the spectacle of hurt to Drake and his companies to drive shopper hysteria and, after all, large revenues. That plan succeeded, seemingly past UMG’s wildest expectations.”
This motion follows a “pre-action” petition Drake filed in opposition to UMG and Spotify in New York federal courtroom on Monday during which he accused the 2 corporations of conspiring to artificially inflate the success of “Not Like Us.”
Drake and Lamar each preserve lively associations with UMG by way of its subsidiaries: Drake is signed to Republic Information, whereas Lamar distributes his music by way of Interscope. In keeping with Drake’s attorneys, the alleged motivation behind the scheme to advertise “Not Like Us” was partly pushed by “the will of executives at Interscope to maximise their very own income.”
A spokesperson for Common Music Group has denied Drake’s claims, saying in an announcement: “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 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.”
This can be a growing story…