Rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s feud erupted on the radio this summer. It has now discovered a new venue: the legal system.
In a legal filing on Monday, Drake claimed that Universal Music Group had colluded to use payola and bots to inflate Kendrick Lamar’s summer hit song “Not Like Us” on Spotify.
The two recorded a number of diss tunes this summer that were directed at one another. Perhaps the most well-known was Kendrick Lamar’s May release, “Not Like Us,” which spent several weeks at the top of Billboard’s Hot 100.
In the petition submitted to the New York Supreme Court on Monday, the Canadian rapper asserted that the popularity of “Not Like Us” was the result of dishonest tactics rather than natural streams.
Drake’s business, Frozen Moments LLC, filed a lawsuit. In New York, a petition usually serves as a prelude to a lawsuit and requests the preservation of evidence. Universal Music Group is the target of the majority of the lawsuit’s allegations. (NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News, is unrelated to UMG, a Dutch American-owned firm.)
He stated in the petition that UMG had started a campaign to have the song “Not Like Us” go viral by manipulating and flooding the airways and streaming services with it.
According to the petition, UMG allegedly paid Spotify 30% less than standard license fees for the song “Not Like Us” in exchange for Spotify suggesting the music to customers looking for unrelated songs and artists.
Additionally, it is suspected that UMG bought and colluded with unidentified parties to utilize bots to play Not Like Us and increase its popularity.
According to the petition, UMG also allegedly had a financial arrangement with Apple that would have caused Siri, the digital assistant, to point customers to Not Like Us when they requested that Siri play Drake’s album Certified Lover Boy. The song “Certified Lover Boy” is featured in the song “Not Like Us.” Drake is accused of being a certified pedophile.
According to the appeal, UMG was also involved in pay-to-play scams, sometimes referred to as payola.
According to the petition, a UMG employee provided money to an independent radio promoter, who then sent the money to radio stations or radio station staff so they could play “Not Like Us” without revealing they were being paid to do so. Who paid the payment and which radio station allegedly got it were not disclosed in the petition.
According to the petition, UMG frequently boasted about Not Like Us’ incredible success, which set Spotify records. The hit holds the record for the biggest single-day streams of a hip-hop song and is the most streamed diss track in Spotify history, according to the petition.
The song has over 900 million streams, according to Spotify.
The petition said that the alleged schemes to inflate the popularity of the song were motivated by the desire of executives at Interscope to maximize their own profits.
As a result, Drake, who owns the copyright to his entire catalogue, suffered economic harm, the filing claimed.
Both Drake and Lamar are signed to UMG, under different divisions Drake under Republic Records and Lamar under Interscope.
The petition said that Drake tried to engage UMG in discussions to resolve the ongoing harm he has suffered as a result of UMG s actions, but UMG refused to engage in negotiations, and insisted that UMG is not responsible for its own actions.
The petition claimed that UMG pointed the finger at Lamar and insisted that Drake should initiate legal action against him rather than the company. The filing further claimed that UMG terminated employees who were loyal to Drake.
The filing alleged that UMG violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and engaged in deceptive business practices and false advertising.
Universal Music Group told NBC News the suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.
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, the statement added.
Spotify declined to comment Tuesday. However, on its website, the streaming platformsays it haspractices in placeto prevent, detect and mitigate artificial streaming.
Drake also filed a second petition in Bexar County, Texas, on Monday.
That filing, shared with NBC News, seeks to find out whether UMG engaged in a payola scheme to boost Not Like Us with iHeartRadio, which the petition described as the number one audio company in the country.
This petition, filed in Drake’s own name, outlines similar allegations to the New York filing. It says that UMG knew the song Not Like Us attacked his character, even though he is also a prominent UMG artist, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.
The song dissing Drake calls him a certified pedophile and a predator and someone whose name should be registered and placed on neighborhood watch. Though UMG could have refused to release it or require changes to the offending material, UMG chose to do the opposite, it said.
The petition laid out the same allegation as the New York filing, saying one inside source known to Drake alleged UMG made covert payments to a number of platforms, including radio stations, to play and promote Not Like Us without disclosing those payments to listeners.
However, the filing stated it s not clear if any iHeartRadio stations were part of that alleged payola scheme. The petition said that given iHeartMedia s status, Drake believes that UMG engaged in similar tactics to drive radio play of Not Like Us on iHeartMedia stations.
iHeartMedia did not immediately respond to an NBC News request for comment.
Social media erupted withmemesand jokes following news of the petitions.
Drake realizing that he could just sue his way out of his problems instead of facing them like a man, one social media userwrote on X.
Drake is the first rapper to ever run to court after losing a rap battle,another added.
I speak for EVERYONE when i say we stand with UMG Drake acting like a spoilt brat who lost,one X user said.
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