Drake in his feelings, accuses Universal of artificially boosting Kendrick Lamar’s diss track

Drake has filed a petition in the New York Supreme Court accusing Universal Music Group of using bots and paying Spotify to artificially inflate the streaming numbers of the Kendrick Lamar song Not Like Us. 

In the spring of 2024, Canadian musician Drake and U.S. rapper Kendrick Lamar got into a battle, resulting in nine songs being created with the goal of besmirching the other party. The beef finally ended when Kendrick released Not Like Us, which insinuated that Drake was a pedophile. Beyond being a damning portrayal of the Canadian musician, this song also became a chart-topping hit.

Now Drake alleges that Universal Music Group, which represents both him and Lamar, launched a scheme to maximize its profits on the Lamar song by signing deals with Spotify to make the song appear more often than other tracks when the app is autoplaying. It alleges that the music label charged Spotify 30 percent less for the rights to stream the track.

In addition, he also claims that Apple programmed Siri to play Not Like Us when listeners asked for Drake’s album Certified Lover Boy. I’m incredibly skeptical of this claim, but it’s in the complaint filed by Drake’s team.

The final complaints revolve around bots. A guest on an undisclosed podcast claimed that Lamar’s label (Universal) paid him to use bots to bolster the streaming numbers of Not Like Us with 30,000,000 streams in the first few days of its release.

Overall, I don’t think Drake’s theories hold a lot of water. The beef between the two men was a big moment for hip-hop culture, and tons of people I knew were listening to the songs from both artists. Then, when Not Like Us dropped, everyone was claiming that it was the final nail in the coffin for Drake, and it was a certified hit. I believe that the force of the beef was what led to its success, and it’s very unlikely that it needed any extra help from Universal.

Update Nov 26 1:56 – Drake has filed a second lawsuit aimed at gathering more evidence from iHeart Radio in Texas to back up the claims of his first suit.

Header image credit: Wildbrain

Source: The Verge