Drake files second legal action over Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us

As in his previous filing, Drake goes on to accuse Universal of using “bots” to falsely inflate Kendrick Lamar’s streaming numbers, and of paying influencers to promote Not Like Us online – all of which the company has denied.

But the latest documents add further detail about Drake’s grievances toward Universal, the label where he has spent his entire career.

The documents claim the company knew that Lamar’s song “falsely” accused him of being a “certified paedophile”, a “predator” and someone whose name should “be registered and placed on neighbourhood watch”, but chose to release it anyway.

The song was widely regarded as the decisive blow in a long-running feud between the two rappers, who had been trading barbs in their songs since the early 2010s.

Debuting at number one on the US charts, it has also been nominated for four Grammys, including song of the year.

Drake responded with a track called The Heart Part 6, in which he denied accusations of sexual misconduct and claimed to have fed Lamar “false” information through a double agent. However, the musician later deleted the track from his Instagram feed.

The Canadian star, who is one of the most-streamed musicians of all time, releases music through his own label, OVO Music, but licenses the songs to Universal’s subsidiary label Republic for marketing and distribution.

Lamar has a similar deal, licensing his records through Universal’s Interscope imprint.