Drake has submitted two separate legal filings in response to Lamar’s smash hit “Not Like Us.” Credit: Wikimedia Commons / The Come Up Show
Rapper Kendrick Lamar dropped “Not Like Us” in May, effectively shutting down a widely publicized rap feud with Drake and making a hit song in the process.

Now, Drake has submitted two legal filings against Lamar, one filed in Bexar County, in which he accuses Universal Music Group of defamation as well as a pay-to-play scheme with San Antonio-based media conglomerate iHeartMedia.

In the pre-suit deposition, Drake — under legal name Aubrey Drake Graham — names his and Lamar’s respective record labels’ parent company, Universal Music Group (UMG).

The Bexar County filing accuses Lamar and UMG of defamation, asserting that UMG should have blocked or edited “Not Like Us” before its release.

“But UMG chose to do the opposite,” the filing states. “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.”
Among other scathing insults hurled at Drake in “Not Like Us,” Lamar calls the rival rapper a “certified pedophile” and said he should be “placed on neighborhood watch.”

Bexar County was likely chosen as the filing location because the deposition also names iHeartMedia.

iHeartMedia and UMG have long had a close business relationship, hosting events together and exchanging large amounts of money, as filings from iHeartMedia’s 2019 Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization revealed.

Drake’s petition takes it further by suggesting UMG funneled money into iHeartMedia as part of a pay-to-play scheme.

The filing isn’t a lawsuit but rather a pre-suit deposition, or request for information from UMG and iHeartMedia in what’s likely preparation for a lawsuit, should anything be uncovered to substantiate a case.

Drake’s other legal filing was submitted in the New York Supreme Court, naming UMG and Spotify with accusations that UMG inflated “Not Like Us” streaming numbers using bots, as first reported by Billboard.

To date, Lamar’s hit has racked up nearly 900 million streams on Spotify.

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This article appears in Nov 13-26, 2024.

Stephanie Koithan is the Digital Content Editor of the San Antonio Current. In her role, she writes about politics, music, art, culture and food. Send her a tip at skoithan@sacurrent.com.