Drake Claims UMG and Spotify Artificially Inflated the Popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’

Photo Credit: Drake by GabboT / CC by 2.0

Drake alleges in a court filing that UMG and Spotify falsely inflated the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track about him.The feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar might escalate to a lawsuit. In a court filing on Monday, Drake alleged that Universal Music Group (UMG) had falsely inflated the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” on Spotify and other streaming services. The song was Ken’s “winning” track in the ongoing feud between the two hip-hop legends, and notably goes for the jugular in its attacks against Drake.

Filed on Monday in a New York Court by the rapper’s company, Frozen Moments LLC, the petition demands the preservation and divulgence of information that could be evidence in a potential lawsuit against UMG. The record company has called the allegations “offensive and untrue.”

Drake’s company alleges UMG “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, ‘Not Like Us,’ in order to make that song go viral, including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.” According to the petition, the company and Spotify have “a long-standing, symbiotic business relationship” and that UMG offered Spotify special licensing rates to boost the song. The filing further alleges UMG fired employees seen as loyal to Drake, in order to “conceal its schemes.”

Universal has responded to the allegations against it, stating “the suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. 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.”

“Not Like Us” released in May, a tremendously popular track in a storm of dueling singles by the two stars. It has received over 900 million plays on Spotify and has widely been considered the fatal blow in the famous feud. It features such biting lyrics like, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ‘em young / You better not ever go to cell block one.”

Spotify has not yet responded to media requests for comment, but the company has stated in the past that it “invests heavily in automated and manual reviews to prevent, detect, and mitigate the impact of artificial streaming on our platform.”