The long-standing beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has just gotten ugly, with a recent twist into a legal battle. Drake recently made headlines for taking a subtle dig at Kendrick Lamar during a live-streaming session. This was his first high-profile appearance since the feud, where he clarified that “only facts can fold him, fairytales don’t work,” without directly naming Lamar.
But that’s not all. Drake has gone a step ahead and filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, alleging that they were “conspiring in bad faith to inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’, while sabotaging his own music“. Here’s everything he has claimed in the lawsuit.
Drake Accuses UMG And Spotify Of Colluding With Kendrick Lamar With His Hit Song ‘Not Like Us’
Attorneys for Drake’s company, Frozen Moments LLC, in a complaint filed in the New York Supreme Court alleged UMG and Spotify manipulated streaming services and airwaves to give the appearance that Kendrick Lamar’s hit diss track ‘Not Like Us‘ was more popular than it actually was.
The suit charges UMG bribed third parties to circulate bots that artificially inflate plays for ‘Not Like Us‘ and to deceive consumers. It further alleges that the label colluded to reduce licensing fees that Spotify agreed to pay in exchange for Spotify to promote Lamar’s track over any other artists, including Drake.
Related: Drake Releases 100 GB Of New Music Content With Subtle Digs At Kendrick Lamar
UMG termed the allegations “offensive and untrue,” and a Spotify spokesperson declined to comment.
This petition, though not a full lawsuit, aims to safeguard relevant documents from UMG and Spotify in possible legal procedures. It follows the risingly personal diss tracks exchanged between the two rappers, wherein Lamar spoke out about the alleged inappropriate relationships and secret children of Drake. Drake retaliated against accusations of domestic abuse and infidelity on his part.
Drake’s Attorneys Claim Apple Was Also Involved In The Fiasco
Drake’s attorneys also claim UMG went further and paid Apple so that when users asked Siri to play Drake’s music, the digital assistant instead played ‘Not Like Us‘. According to the petition, these efforts helped make Lamar’s diss track break Spotify records, with 900 million streams, including the biggest single-day streams for a hip-hop track.
In case you missed it: Snoop Dogg Lauds His “Nephews” Drake And Kendrick Lamar For “Raising The Bar” Of Song-Writing With Their Rap Feud
Drake’s legal team claims that despite their attempts to resolve the situation directly with UMG, the label has denied responsibility and pushed Drake to take his complaints directly to Lamar. Now, Drake is accusing UMG of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) and engaging in deceptive business practices.
Be it an escalated full-scale lawsuit or behind-the-scenes resolution, the drama is added to the already intense rivalry between two of hip-hop’s biggest superstars.
