Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” was undeniably one of the biggest songs of the year. It was obvious Lamar won the rap feud when the Drake diss track debuted at #1, Stereogum readers declared it the Song Of The Summer, and it sparked lots of conversation. Now, Drake is suing Universal Music Group and Spotify, claiming they gave the song an unfair boost.
According to Billboard, a filing was made today in Manhattan court by Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC, accusing UMG of organizing an illicit “scheme” of bots, payola, and other ways of giving “Not Like Us” advantages.
Drake has been on UMG for his entire career, but his attorneys accuse the company of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, as well as of deceptive business practices and false advertising under New York state law. “UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” the attorneys write. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”
One method includes UMG allegedly charging Spotify lower licensing rates in exchange for the streaming service suggesting the song to users who had searched for “unrelated songs and artists.” UMG is also being accused of paying influencers to share the track on social media and hiring teams of bots to increase the numbers. There’s also a big claim about Apple Music: “Online sources reported that when users asked Siri to play the album Certified Lover Boy by [Drake], Siri instead played ‘Not Like Us,’ which contains the lyric ‘certified pedophile,’ an allegation against Drake,” Drake’s lawyers claim.
“UMG’s schemes … were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope to maximize their own profits,” Drake’s attorneys write. “Executives at Interscope have been incentivized to maximize the financial success of Interscope through the promotion of ‘Not Like Us’ and its revitalizing impact on the artist’s prior recording catalog.”
“Drake has repeatedly sought to engage UMG in discussions to resolve the ongoing harm he has suffered as a result of UMG’s actions,” the filing continues. “UMG refused to engage in negotiations, and insisted that UMG is not responsible for its own actions.”
The filing is not yet a lawsuit but instead a “pre-action” petition, intending to find more information before it becomes a lawsuit.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the company responded in a statement. “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.”
UPDATE: Drake has filed a second legal action against UMG, this time involving radio giant iHeartMedia, this time alleging that UMG knowingly released a song “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.”
