As REVOLT revealed on Monday (Nov. 25), Drake took his feud with Kendrick Lamar to a new level. In a court filing, the Canadian star and his attorneys alleged that Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify unfairly boosted the popularity of Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
In a “pre-action petition,” Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC sought to preserve evidence for a potential lawsuit. It read that UMG, which distributes music for both the OVO head honcho and Lamar, “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves” with the aforementioned single by using bots and pay-to-play arrangements. Drake’s team further claimed that Spotify was offered special licensing rates to bolster the song’s performance. Additionally, the petition stated that UMG fired employees perceived as loyal to Drake “in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes.”
UMG has since vehemently denied the allegations. According to The Associated Press, the company stated that the “suggestion that [they] 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.”
Released back in May, Lamar's “Not Like Us” was said to have amassed over 900 million plays on Spotify alone. On the Mustard-produced offering, the pgLang frontman took several shots at Drake regarding his tattoo of Lil Wayne, alleged inappropriate relationships, and supposed reliance on Atlanta Hip Hop artists.
While Spotify has yet to comment on this case, the company previously spoke on measures to prevent fraudulent figures. “[We invest] heavily in automated and manual reviews to prevent, detect, and mitigate the impact of artificial streaming on our platform,” a representative said, per AP.