Drake has initiated legal proceedings against Universal Music Group (UMG) for the second consecutive day, this time in Texas, concerning Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.”

This move follows a similar legal action filed on Monday in New York, where Drake accuses UMG of artificially inflating the track’s popularity on streaming platforms like Spotify.

The ongoing conflict between these two prominent figures in hip-hop has escalated significantly, dragging UMG— the parent company of the labels for both artists— directly into the fray.

In the Tuesday filing made in Bexar County, Drake alleges that UMG participated in “irregular and inappropriate business practices” to secure radio airplay for “Not Like Us,” including purported illegal payments to iHeartMedia located in San Antonio.

The petition serves as a preliminary step before a potential lawsuit and requests testimonies from corporate representatives associated with both UMG and iHeartMedia.

It claims that UMG was aware that “the song and its accompanying visuals slandered another one of its major artists, Drake, by wrongly labeling him as a sex offender, implying he engages in pedophilia, houses sex offenders, and commits other sexual crimes.”

The legal document highlights the track’s derogatory lyrics, which brand Drake as a “certified pedophile,” a “predator,” and suggests that his name should be included on a neighborhood watch list.

Furthermore, the petition states that there is grounds for Drake to file a defamation lawsuit against UMG, among other claims.

UMG has not yet responded to requests for comment regarding this latest filing; however, in response to the New York filing, the company released a statement indicating that the insinuation that UMG would jeopardize any of its artists is both offensive and inaccurate, asserting that they uphold the highest ethical standards in their promotional endeavors.

Attempts to contact iHeartMedia for a comment have also gone unanswered.

The earlier New York filing is similarly a prelude to a possible lawsuit, alleging that UMG terminated employees who were perceived as loyal to Drake “in a clear effort to hide its misconduct.”

These consecutive legal actions mark a significant and potentially unprecedented intensification in a long-standing hip-hop rivalry, especially since the dispute centers around the record labels of two of the music industry’s leading talents.

Drake, a Canadian rapper, singer, and five-time Grammy Award winner, is 38 years old, while Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize laureate set to headline the next Super Bowl halftime show, was once a frequent collaborator with Drake over a decade ago.

However, tensions began to surface in 2013 when Lamar started publicly critiquing Drake, and the conflict has significantly deepened in recent months.

“Not Like Us,” a track released by Lamar in May, became a particularly sharp point in the escalating exchange between the two musicians, contributing to a series of rival tracks from both artists.