Drake being connected to a petition against the record label Universal Music Group (UMG) and music streaming platform, Spotify, over fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar’s song “Not Like Us” has hip-hop fans either up in arms or perplexed.
In the petition filed on Monday in the New York Supreme Court, Frozen Moments, LLC, a company managed by Drake, accused UMG and Spotify of engaging in a “scheme to ensure” Lamar’s diss track, “Not Like Us,” “broke through” on multiple streaming platforms. According to the petition, the Canadian rapper, whose real name is Aubrey Graham, claimed the label used dishonest tactics to increase the number of listeners for Lamar’s song on Spotify and radio stations.
Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has been on the Billboard Top 100 for 29 weeks and landed at the No. 1 spot twice. As of Tuesday, the record is still on the charts at number 19.
In addition to the Billboard accomplishments, the record has, to date, garnered 914 million plays on Spotify. Lamar’s “Humble,” his most-streamed song, has about 2.4 billion streams on the platform.
“UMG’s schemes to artificially inflate the popularity of ‘Not Like Us’ were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope (Records) to maximize their own profits,” the petition claims, with the filling adding how Drake suspects UMG engaged in racketeering through bribery as well as deceptive business practices and false advertising.
Drakes files second petition against UMG alleging defamation
On Tuesday, Drake and Frozen Moments, LLC filed another petition against UMG alleging defamation and claiming that the label could have stopped the release of “Not Like US”, which the rapper said in the document is a song “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender,” Billboard and Forbes reported.
In the second petition obtained by Billboard and Forbes, Drake accuses UMG of knowing that Kendrick’s song “falsely” accused him of being a “certified pedophile” and “predator” but chose to release it anyway. At points in “Not Like Us,” Lamar does say “certified pedophile” and “predator,” but he does not explicitly utter Drake’s name when using the phrases.
Social media reacts to Drake, Kendrick beef after petition
Fans of Lamar, Drake, and hip-hop have chimed in on the petition, with some siding with the “Not Like Us” rapper who released his sixth studio album, “GNX,” on Nov. 22. However, others defended Drake, arguing that the petition is bigger than the beef that took the music world by storm earlier this year.
This lawsuit isn’t about music. It’s about legacy, or rather, the lack of one. It’s a public confession that Drake fears the future because it no longer has his name written on it.
— Water (@weallarewater) November 25, 2024
And the irony? He’s not even wrong. Not Like Us is exactly that—a line drawn in the sand. On one… https://t.co/zu8yK5eio5
Drake is suing UMG and Spotify for artificially boosting streams for NLU using bots, influencers, and algorithmic manipulation. He is not suing because he lost, but because they violated the false advertising laws and the RICO act to try and harm his career.
— S I H L E T H E P L U G (@RealSihleIV) November 26, 2024
Yall just lazy to…
Drake resorting to a lawsuit for Not like us further proves Kendrick’s point and confirms that Drake lost pic.twitter.com/3gUjDvbAdi
— LOVER GIRL FREE 📝🇯🇲🐝 (@therealfreevrgo) November 25, 2024
Drake filing a lawsuit with RICO implications over a diss track. pic.twitter.com/hpaM79FvNs
— Ruben || Check the Rhyme (@checktherhyme1_) November 25, 2024
Drake needs a better astrologer around him.
— Jonathan Louis Dent (@jonathanldent) November 25, 2024
Filing that lawsuit was corny enough but doing it on the first day of Mercury retrograde is really the cherry on top.
The lawsuit admits that Drake has suffered “economic harm” because of the beef with Kendrick Lamar.
— King Wow (@wowthatshiphop) November 25, 2024
Beef aside, if Drake wins that lawsuit, it’s a huge step forward for protecting artists in the music industry.
— 🎹 (@DrSweets24) November 25, 2024
this is the craziest part of that Drake v UMG lawsuit lmao. they know there is wrongdoing but are trying to shift blame pic.twitter.com/WIUf8Ko6Fr
— RM (@rtlllms) November 25, 2024
UMG: ‘Fans choose the music they want to hear’
UMG wasted no time to react, with the label releasing a statement to USA TODAY on Monday, hours after the petition was filed.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the music corporation’s statement reads. “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.”
Drake is signed to UMG subsidiary Republic Records, while Lamar is signed to UMG’s Interscope Records, according to the label’s website. The label is also home to other popular musicians, including Taylor Swift, Billie Eilish, Bad Bunny and The Weeknd.
