For the second straight day, has taken legal action against Universal Music Group, this time in Texas, over diss track 鈥淣ot Like Us.鈥�
It follows a similar on Monday, in which Drake alleges UMG falsely pumped up the popularity of 鈥淣ot Like Us鈥� on Spotify and other streaming services.
The two court moves have taken the bitter beef between the two hip-hop superstars to a whole new level, with the parent company of the labels for both men now pulled directly into the fight.
Tuesday鈥檚 filing in Bexar County alleges UMG engaged in 鈥渋rregular and inappropriate business practices" to get radio airplay for 鈥淣ot Like Us,鈥� including making illegal payments to San Antonio-based iHeartMedia. The petition, a precursor to a potential lawsuit, seeks depositions from corporate representatives of both companies.
The filing takes aim at UMG for allegedly knowing that 鈥渢he song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG鈥檚 most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts.鈥�
The filing points out that "the song calls Drake a 鈥榗ertified pedophile,鈥� a 鈥榩redator,鈥� and someone whose name should 鈥榖e registered and placed on neighborhood watch.鈥�"
The petition says Drake could sue UMG for defamation, among other claims.
A UMG representative did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment on the new filing. In a Monday statement in response to the New York filing, the company said the 鈥渟uggestion 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."
An email to an iHeartMedia representative seeking comment was also not immediately answered.
The New York petition is also a precursor to a potential lawsuit, and alleges UMG fired employees seen as loyal to Drake 鈥渋n an apparent effort to conceal its schemes.鈥�
The back-to-back legal maneuvers represent a major and possibly unprecedented escalation of a hip-hop feud, especially with the label representing two of the biggest stars in music sitting at the center of it.
Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old who is set to headline the next , were occasional collaborators more than a decade ago.
That changed when Lamar began taking public jabs at Drake starting in 2013. The fight earlier this year.
鈥淣ot Like Us,鈥� the wildly popular Lamar single released in May, was an especially vicious moment in a flurry of dueling tracks from the two artists.
Andrew Dalton, The Associated Press
