Drake claims Universal inflated the popularity of Kendrick Lamar's song “Not Like Us”

The clash between Drake and Kendrick Lamar has so far been through merciless songs. He is now going to court. This Monday, November 25, the rapper from Toronto initiated legal proceedings against Universal Music, Kendrick Lamar's label, which he accuses of having falsified the listening figures for the title Not Like Us on Spotify and other streaming services, according to several American media.

The Canadian rapper filed a “pre-query” with a New York court that seeks information before filing a suit. The artist, multiple Grammy nominees, claims that the record company would have “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate streaming services and airwaves with a song, Not Like Usin order to make this song viral, in particular by using “bots” [un robot utilisé sur Internet pour effectuer diverses tâches]» to boost audiences, reports Associated Press.

In another allegation, Drake's lawyers say the music giant paid Apple to make its voice assistant Siri “deliberately redirects users” towards Kendrick's song, reporting that “when users asked Siri to play the album Certified Lover Boy of [Drake]Siri played instead Not Like Us». These arrangements would be linked to the fact that the label and Spotify “have a long-standing symbiotic business relationship”, assures the document, which affirms that Universal even granted the streaming platform preferential licensing rates to exploit the song. Drake further claims that the record company allegedly fired employees considered to be fans of the rapper's followers, “in an apparent effort to conceal his schemes.”

900 million streams

Universal Music Group defended itself in a press release, ensuring that it adopted “ethical practices” in its marketing and promotional strategies. The company described“offensive and false” the idea that it could harm one of its artists, adding that no legal argument “artificial and absurd” could not hide the fact that fans themselves choose the music they listen to. A spokesperson for the label, where Drake signed in 2022, told Billboard what “the idea that UMG [Universal music group] would do anything to harm one of its artists is offensive and false. According to the American media, the Canadian artist affirms that the company rather “pointed the finger” Kendrick Lamar and encouraged him to sue his rival rather than the record company.

The single Not Like Usby Kendrick Lamar, released in May 2024 against the backdrop of a clash between the two artists, has accumulated more than 900 million plays on Spotify, according to the platform's figures. In October, Billboard revealed that the song had remained at number one in the world's most listened to rap songs for 21 weeks, a record.