Drake Accuses UMG And Spotify Of Using Bots To Boost Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” Numbers

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Drake is convinced that Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” had more than just talent behind its chart-topping success. On Monday (Nov. 25), the Toronto native filed a complaint in Manhattan court, alleging that Universal Music Group and Spotify were involved in inflating the track’s streaming numbers.

“UMG did not rely on chance or even ordinary business practices,” attorneys for Frozen Moments LLC, Drake’s independent company, said in the legal documents, per Billboard. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”

As reported by the publication, Spotify allegedly licensed “Not Like Us” at “drastically reduced rates,” and streaming bots were used to make the record look more successful than it actually was.

The petition didn’t name other DSPs outright, though it alleged that UMG seems to have employed similar strategies with other streaming platforms: “On information and belief, UMG paid, or approved payments to, Apple to have its voice-activated digital assistant, Siri, purposely misdirect users to ‘Not Like Us.’” Specifically, users would reportedly get sent to the aforementioned track for its “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles” lyric when searching for Drake’s sixth studio album.

According to the suit, the music conglomerate’s actions also breached the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act as well as New York laws against deceptive business practices and false advertising. “UMG’s schemes were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope [Records] to maximize their own profits,” the legal documents read.

On the Mustard-produced cut, Lamar delivered stinging lines like, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young / You better not ever go to cell block one.” Elsewhere, the Compton native threw shots at OVO affiliates like PARTYNEXTDOOR, Baka Not Nice and CHUBBS, all by name.

To add insult to injury, other celebrities joined in on the moment as well. For instance, Serena Williams danced to the track at the 2024 ESPY Awards while Taraji P. Henson showed up at the BET Awards dressed as Lamar in his “The Pop Out — Ken and Friends” concert outfit.