The legal filing is a surprising coda to the musicians’ feud, but it also represents a rift between Drake and Universal – the label that has represented him for his entire career.
In court documents, the star’s lawyers say he tried to address these allegations in private but that the label has “no interest in taking responsibility for its misconduct.”
Furthermore, they claim Universal made “an apparent effort to conceal its schemes”, which included firing staff “perceived as having loyalty to Drake”.
“Streaming is a zero-sum game,” they argue. “Every time a song breaks through, it means another artist does not.” As a result, they claim, Drake suffered “economic harm” at Lamar’s expense.
A spokesperson for Universal rejected the claims.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” they said in a statement.
“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.”
The legal filing came days after Lamar released a surprise album, GNX, which is widely seen as a follow-up to Not Like Us.
His diss track was recently nominated for four Grammy awards, including song of the year, and he has been booked to play next year’s Super Bowl halftime show.
However, he lags behind Drake in terms of popularity. On Spotify, the rapper is the 23rd most-streamed artist in the world, while Drake places 13th.