Drake claims illegal boosting, defamation

What happened

Rapper Drake filed a second of two legal petitions over rival Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" diss track Tuesday, accusing Universal Music Group of defamation for allowing the release of the track "falsely accusing him of being a sex offender." Drake has also accused UMG — which owns both Drake's and Lamar's labels — of conspiring to artificially inflate the popularity of "Not Like Us" on Spotify and other streaming services.

Who said what

Drake's initial action, filed Monday in Manhattan by his company Frozen Moments LLC, accuses UMG of an illegal operation "involving bots, payola and other methods" to promote Lamar's track, said Billboard.

The second suit, filed in Texas, accuses UMG of "knowing Lamar's track contained allegations about Drake that his lawyers say are false," said Forbes, including claims that he is a "certified pedophile" and "predator." The filing also claims the record label "funneled payments" to iHeartRadio in a "pay-to-play scheme."

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What next?

Neither of Drake's legal actions are lawsuits. They are "pre-action filings intended to take depositions" from officials at UMG and iHeartRadio to "obtain more information for a potential lawsuit," said Variety.