Drake warns music companies with suit over "inflated" numbers for Kendrick's diss track

This time it will go the legal way as Drake and Kendrick Lamar lock horns once again after what started as a petty verbal spat between the two popular rappers. Drake has now warned of taking legal action against major music companies as he claims that they manipulated numbers for Kendrick’s song “Not Like Us” which wasn’t such a big hit as it claimed to be. 

“Not Like Us” is Kendrick Lamar’s diss track for Drake suggesting that the latter is a “sex offender” with lyrics such as "Drake, I hear you like 'em young," and references to a "certified paedophile" and a "predator."

It’s gotten serious

Drake filed a petition against the music companies using his birth name Aubrey Drake Graham. He filed the petition in Bexar County District Court in Texas. He served notices to music giants like iHeartMedia and Universal Music Group, accusing UMG of scheming to turn Not Like Us into a viral hit at the expense of Drake. Drake too is a UMG artist. 

The music companies however deny these claims. As soon as the petition was filed, Universal Music Group said that it would never use unethical practices to market Kendrick Lamar's song, saying in a statement that Drake's accusations were "contrived and absurd legal arguments."

The other company, iHeartMedia, is yet to respond to these claims. 

Drake's company Frozen Moments filed a similar action in the New York Supreme Court against Universal and Spotify, accusing Universal of using payola and other manipulative practices to promote Not Like Us. The New York case is not a formal lawsuit and serves as a notice that a suit may be on the way if not met with a positive response. 

Drake claims that UMG "launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate" streaming services like Spotify to help Not Like Us go viral, "including by using 'bots' and pay-to-play agreements."

The filing adds, "Streaming and licensing is a zero-sum game. Every time a song 'breaks through,' it means another artist does not. UMG's choice to saturate the music market with Not Like Us comes at the expense of its other artists, like Drake."

Meanwhile, Universal said, "The suggestion 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. 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."

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Not the first time that Drake and Kendrick Lamar have warred

Kendrick Lamar and Drake have been consistent with their diss tracks for each other. It all started when Kendrick in a 2013 track called out Drake and several other big names in the genre, rapping, "I got love for you all, but I'm trying to murder you ... Trying to make sure your core fans never heard of you."