Rapper Drake has changed course in its attack on Universal Music Group, which is now suing the media conglomerate for defamation less than 12 hours after withdrawing the previous petition.

The Canadian superstar just filed a new lawsuit in New York, claiming that UMG's promotion Kendrick LamarHis mega-hit "Not Like Us" helped push the "false and malicious narrative" that labels the "Best I Ever Had" singer as a pedophile.

Drake and Lamar are currently signed to their parent label through subsidiaries Republic Records (Drake) and Interscope Records (Lamar).

In the lawsuit, filed Wednesday morning, Drake calls out UMG for being more concerned with "corporate greed for the safety and well-being of its artists" by allowing Lamar's "Not Like Us" to be released.

Through court documents, the artist, born Aubrey Drake Graham, alleges that UMG "sanctioned, published and launched a campaign to create a viral hit from 'Not Like Us'" that was "intended to convey specific, unmistakable and false factual claims that Drake a criminal pedophile and to suggest that the public should resort to justice in response.”

Since the song's release, there have been multiple shootings near and around Drake's home in Toronto, including one in which Drake's bodyguard was injured.

Lamar released “Not Like Us” in May 2024 as the last of five responses to Drake in the long-running feud that reignited that March.

In his song, the "Humble" rapper alludes to previous allegations against Drake regarding his close friendships with several young women, including the "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobbie Brown.

Lamar also questions the Canadian entertainer's position in black culture, referring to Drake in "Not Like Us" as a "fucking colonizer," among other things.

In a few days, the song became one of the biggest hits of 2024. It reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it stayed for two weeks, and No. 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, where it stayed for 20 weeks.

Per The Hollywood Reportr, Lamar is not among the plaintiffs sued by Drake, although he is the sole songwriter of "Not Like Us."

"(This lawsuit is) entirely about UMG," the court documents continue, "a music company that chose to publish, promote, exploit and monetize allegations that it found to be not only false, but dangerous."

Drake's new filing comes less than a day after he withdrew a previous petition against UMG and streaming app Spotify for engaging in illegal tactics to "boost" the numbers for "Not Like Us."

First filed in November, the petition, considered a "pre-action" move rather than a full lawsuit, alleges that UMG and Spotify "engaged in conduct designed to artificially inflate the popularity of Not Like Us."

This included "licensing the song at drastically discounted prices to Spotify and using 'bots' to create the false impression that the song is more popular than it actually is."

UMG responded in a statement to Diversitycalling Drake's accusations preposterous.

"The suggestion that UMG would go out of its way to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue," he wrote. "We apply the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action filing can disguise the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

Spotify will respond to Drake's claims with a counterclaim in December, noting that they had "no economic incentive" to force users to stream "Not Like Us" more than they chose, and "never had any arrangement where UMG 'billed Spotify licensing rates 30 percent below normal licensing rates for 'Not Like Us'.”

In response, Drake's legal team accused Spotify of trying to "distance" itself from UMG.

"If Spotify and UMG have nothing to hide, then they should be perfectly fine to comply with this basic disclosure requirement," they added.

Drake and his company, Frozen Moments, would voluntarily withdraw their petition late Tuesday "at no cost to either party."

Although the feud between Drake and Lamar had been brewing for some time, it was Drake who caused things to escalate.

On May 3, 2024, he released the controversial song "Family Matters", which contained allegations that Lamar was physically assaulting and cheating on his wife, and rumors that one of Lamar's children was fathered by another man.

It was these dark accusations that prompted Lamar to record three songs in retaliation – “6:16 In LA”, “Meet the Grahams” and his final response “Not Like Us”.