The internet is relentlessly trolling Drake after he pursued legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, accusing them of artificially inflating the streaming numbers for Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us.’
In response, UMG has dismissed the Canadian rapper’s allegations as “offensive” and “untrue.” In this piece, we dive into all the information we know about a potentially incoming court battle between Drake and his recording label, UMG, after the Canadian rapper filed a petition accusing them, and Spotify of artificially inflating the numbers and popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s victory lap diss track “Not Like Us.”
This comes after Mr. Duckworth dropped a surprise album on Friday 22nd, in preparation for his 2025 Super Bowl performance. The “Family Matters” rapper has since then filed a second petition against UMG, accusing them of defamation.
Drake with numbers
Drake has a knack for making headlines with impressive numbers, whether it is through topping the music charts globally or staking thousands of dollars in some of the top online casinos.
If you remember, Drizzy Drake aka the 6 God bet $350,000 on Mike Tyson to beat Jake Paul, but alas, the Drake curse struck once again, Tyson lost and so did Drake. Champagne Papi might not be the luckiest person when it comes to gambling, but he doesn’t miss, or at least he never used to miss, when it came to doing numbers before the rap beef.
When you log into Spotify, you’ll notice that Drake has been the rapper with the most monthly listeners, a record he has consistently held for the better part of 2024. The highlight of the year in the Hip hop world has been the Drake and Kendrick Lamar rap beef which sent shock waves across the whole music industry.
The feud was summed up as Kendrick Lamar beating Drake by being Drake. Yes, you heard that right! Kendrick’s “Not Like Us”; the track that is now the main focus of both petitions, did phenomenally well.
The song which was produced by none other than DJ Mustard broke all the records which were previously held by Drake’s “God’s Plan.” It is currently nominated for 5 Grammy awards including Song of the Year, Best Rap Performance, Best Rap Song, Record of the Year, and Best Music Video.
The lawsuits: Inflating numbers and defamation
The move by Drake to go to court is particularly unexpected given that UMG distributes recordings for both artists.
In a Monday 25th court filing in Manhattan, first reported by Billboard, Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC alleged that UMG orchestrated an illegal “scheme” involving bots, payola, and other tactics to inflate the numbers for Lamar’s scathing diss track, ‘Not Like Us.’ Drake’s lawyers also claim that Universal “conspired with and paid currently unknown parties” to “artificially” boost the prominence of Not Like Us.
On Tuesday, it was reported that Drake had filed a second petition against UMG later on Monday after filing the first lawsuit. He accuses the label of defamation over the same track.
The song, which alleges that Drake is a paedophile (Certified Lover Boy, Certified paedophile, Wop, wop, wop, wop), has further intensified the already heated feud between the two artists, especially now that the petitions started coming in two days after Kendrick Lamar dropped his new album GNX, which has been branded as the sequel to “Not Like Us”.
The petition claims UMG could have stopped the release of a song that “falsely” accuses him of being a “sex offender” and a “predator,” but chose to release it anyway.
“UMG designed, financed, and then executed a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, generate massive revenues,” the petition continues. Drake’s company also alleges that UMG potentially paid radio giant iHeartRadio to promote the song on radio.
UMG has since responded to the first petition saying, “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the company said.
“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.”
Will Drake let the beef rest?
No, we don’t think Drake will accept defeat and let it go, not after all that has happened. Mr. Duckworth won the rap beef fair and square, and to add salt to the injury, in one of the diss tracks, ‘Family Matters,’ Drake says, “Kendrick just opened his mouth, someone go hand him a Grammy right now,” and ‘Not Like Us,’ the song taking center stage in the petitions, has now been nominated for numerous awards in the upcoming Grammys.
K Dot will also perform in the 2025 half-time Super Bowl performance. This is despite Drake rapping “Big as the Super Bowl” in ‘First Person Shooter,’ the song where Drake sneak dissed Kendrick Lamar with the “big 3” narrative only for King Kunta to come and obliterate it and prove it’s only “big me.”
So yeah, we don’t think Drake is just going to let this rest, and the legal approach could be one of the many ways he is retaliating against the rap beef winner.
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