Drake warns to take battle with Kendrick Lamar to court over song

Drake has escalated his dispute with fellow rap superstar Kendrick Lamar, filing a pair of court notices warning of legal action against major music companies for what Drake called manipulative promotion of Lamar's megahit Not Like Us.

The record-breaking "diss" track Not Like Us released this year suggests Drake is a sex offender with lyrics such as, "Drake, I hear you like 'em young," and references to a "certified paedophile" and a "predator."

Drake, using his given name Aubrey Drake Graham, filed a petition in Bexar County District Court in Texas on Monday serving notice to music giants iHeartMedia and Universal Music Group, accusing UMG of scheming to turn Not Like Us into a viral hit at the expense of Drake, a fellow UMG artist.
Universal Music Group denied it undermined Drake or that it used unethical practices to market Lamar's song, saying in a statement that Drake's accusations were "contrived and absurd legal arguments."

Representatives of iHeartMedia, which is based in San Antonio, did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Drake's company Frozen Moments filed a similar action in New York Supreme Court against Universal and Spotify on Monday, accusing Universal of using payola and other manipulative practices to promote Not Like Us. Spotify did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.

As in Texas, the New York case is not a formal lawsuit but a notice that a suit could be forthcoming. Drake alleged in the New York filing 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."

"Streaming and licensing is a zero-sum game," Drake's filing said. "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.”