Drake-Kendrick Lamar Feud Escalates
The ongoing feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has taken a new turn, with Drake filing a legal petition against Universal Music Group (UMG), accusing the company of artificially inflating the Spotify streams of Lamar’s chart-topping diss track, “Not Like Us.” Filed on Monday in New York, this lawsuit marks the latest escalation in their months-long conflict.
Drake’s Legal Claim Against UMG
Drake’s legal team, through his firm Frozen Moments LLC, claims that Universal Music Group launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate streaming services with “Not Like Us” by using bots and pay-to-play agreements. The petition does not accuse Kendrick Lamar of any wrongdoing but focuses on the record label’s alleged actions to promote the track artificially.
UMG used discounted licensing rates for Spotify to push “Not Like Us” to users searching for unrelated songs and artists. The petition also claims that UMG paid “currently unknown parties” to deploy bots to promote the song and its music video, which has garnered over 178 million views on YouTube.
Impact on Drake and the Music Industry
The legal filing argues that Drake was harmed by UMG’s actions, stating that the streaming business operates in a “zero-sum game,” where the saturation of the market with one artist’s track negatively impacts others. In this case, Drake’s team claims the promotion of “Not Like Us” by UMG came at the expense of other artists like Drake.
As part of the filing, Frozen Moments LLC seeks to force UMG and Spotify to produce more information regarding their business practices. While the petition doesn’t specify the defendant or the timing for when a lawsuit may be filed, it highlights the gravity of the situation.
UMG’s Response
In a statement, Universal Music Group rejected the accusations, calling them “offensive and untrue.” They further added that UMG would never do anything to undermine its artists. The label emphasized, “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.”
The Drake and Kendrick Lamar Feud
The feud between Drake and Lamar began earlier this year when Drake and J. Cole released the track “First Person Shooter,” which included a line about the three rappers being the “big three” of rap. Lamar rejected this notion, placing himself above both Drake and Cole in a feature on Future’s song “Like That.” This led to a series of diss tracks, including Lamar’s controversial “Not Like Us,” where he made explosive allegations against Drake and his team, including calling them “certified pedophiles.”
The song broke records and garnered significant attention, earning Lamar five Grammy nominations, making it one of the most high-profile diss tracks in hip-hop history.
Recent Developments
This legal action follows shortly after Lamar released his surprise album “GNX,” which made subtle references to his feud with Drake. On the album, Lamar criticized Snoop Dogg for sharing Drake’s diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle” on social media and included a song titled “heart pt. 6,” which mirrors the name of another Drake diss track.
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