Drake‘s feud with Los Angeles rapper Kendrick Lamar continues.
On Monday, the Toronto artist accused Universal Music Group (UMG) of artificially inflating the popularity of Lamar’s smash hit “Not Like Us,” according to a legal petition obtained by the Independent.
A day later, according to reporting by Billboard, Drake launched a second legal action against UMG, accusing the music giant of defamation and claiming it could have halted the release of a song “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.”
“UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” the legal petition reads. “But UMG chose to do the opposite. 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, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations.”
A searing diss track that accused Drake of pedophilia among other things, “Not Like Us” reached number one on the Billboard charts in the spring and broke several records on the streaming platform Spotify. Among hip-hop observers, the song and its meteoric success acted as a de facto knockout punch, making Lamar the unquestioned victor in the months-long battle.
The first legal petition, which was filed by Drake and his company Frozen Moments in a Manhattan court on Monday, alleges that UMG used a network of bots, in conjunction with a so-called pay-to-play scheme, to “manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves” with “Not Like Us,” the Independent reports.
UMG, the filing continues, “did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices to achieve success with Lamar’s latest release.”
“It instead 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.”
The filing also claims that UMG charged Spotify less than its usual licensing rates in exchange for Spotify pushing recommendations for “Not Like Us” to “users who are searching for other unrelated songs and artists.”
The legal action, which Billboard points out is not technically a lawsuit, accuses both companies of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), as well as the New York Deceptive Business Act and the False Advertising Act. The RICO statute is often used in criminal cases against organized crime.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” a spokesperson for Universal Music Group told the Star. “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.”
Spotify did not immediately responded to the Star’s request for comment.
A source told the Independent that Drake’s issue is with UMG’s alleged business practices and not Lamar’s music.
UMG, a multinational music company, is the distributor for the record labels of both Drake and Lamar. In 2022, Drake signed a multi-faceted deal with UMG that was reported to be worth as much as $400 million, making it one of the largest recording contracts ever.
As for Lamar, he seems to have moved on. On Friday, he surprised fans with the release of his sixth studio album, titled “GNX.”
“Not Like Us” recently received five Grammy nominations, including song of the year and record of the year.
