In the latest twist in the bruising beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, the Canadian rapper has initiated legal action against Universal Music Group and Spotify over allegations that the two companies conspired to artificially inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
The lawsuit is doubly surprising because UMG distributes both artists’ recordings.
In a filing Monday in Manhattan court first reported by Billboard, Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC accused UMG of launching an illegal “scheme” involving bots, payola and other methods to boost the numbers for Lamar’s viciously personal song, which accuses Drake of pedophilia and amplified the already fiery dispute between the two artists.
While other streaming services are not named in the petition, it does claim that “UMG appears to have used similar tactics with other streaming services. On information and belief, UMG paid, or approved payments to, Apple Inc. to have its voice-activated digital assistant ‘Siri’ purposely misdirect users to ‘Not Like Us.’”
“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” Drake’s company’s lawyers wrote. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”
Reps for Drake, Lamar, Spotify and UMG either declined or did not immediately respond to Variety’s requests for comment.
Drake’s attorneys claim that UMG violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, which is often used in criminal cases against organized crime (and was deployed to convict R. Kelly of sexual misconduct and other crimes in 2021). They also allege deceptive business practices and false advertising under New York state law.
As Billboard notes, Monday’s filing is not yet a full lawsuit, but a so-called “pre-action” petition — a procedure under New York law that aims to secure information before filing a lawsuit.
However, the move is extraordinary in a number of ways. Earlier this year, Lamar piled on a series of increasingly personal diss tracks against Drake, not only accusing him of having relationships with underaged women — which Drake has denied — as well as children not revealed to the public, and has gone so far as to address Drake’s son Adonis, his mother and others in his songs.
Drake released one song in response — which was removed from streaming services due to an uncleared sample — and then went silent. The beef calmed down after shots were fired outside of Drake’s Toronto residence in July, but fired up again with the surprise release of Lamar’s new “GNX” album on Friday.
However, he did appear on a video interview
Variety will have more on the situation as it develops.
Read the full article here
