Drake Takes Universal Music Group, Spotify To Court To Continue Battle With Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’

The Drake/Kendrick Lamar beef has been taken off the streets and landed in the courtroom. The Canadian recording artist has taken his label and a streaming service to court accusing them of inflating Lamar’s diss track against him, “Not Like Us.”

According to Billboard, Aubrey Drake Graham filed paperwork against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify claiming the two companies conspired to artificially inflate Lamar’s song, “Not Like Us.” The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 25 in a Manhattan courtroom. Drake filed it under his company, Frozen Moments LLC, and accused UMG of launching an illegal “scheme” that used several factors including bots, payola, and other methods to make Lamar’s song a successful record.

“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” the paperwork stated. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”

Attorneys for the “October’s Very Own” artist have stated that UMG is in violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) with these actions.

UMG responded to the action by denying the accusation. UMG distributes both Drake and Lamar. Drake was initially signed to Young Money, which was distributed by the music conglomerate and he now records directly under Republic Records. Meanwhile, Lamar was signed to TDE, distributed by Interscope, and is now signed under the label through his own imprint, pgLang.

“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the company said in a statement sent to the media outlet. “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.”

Spotify did not release a statement but was accused of helping in the “scheme.” Drake’s attorneys state that UMG charged Spotify reduced licensing rates so they could recommend “Not Like Us” when users searched for “unrelated songs and artists.” They also say that UMG paid influencers to champion the song over Drake’s diss records in the battle between the superstars. Attorneys also say that armies of bots were put in place to fraudulently spike the numbers.