Drake triggers legal battle against Kendrick Lamar including his own label

Nothing is going well between the two giants of North American rap. The Canadian rapper accuses Universal of having illegally inflated the streams of the “kid from Compton” and of paying a radio station to broadcast a hit by the latter.

After the battle of rhymes, that of the lawyers. Seven months after their squabble with interposed pieces, the quarrel between Canadian rapper Drake and Compton kid Kendrick Lamar takes a legal turn. Monday, November 25, Drake first accused, before the New York court, Universal Music Group (UMG), the label of the two artists, and Spotify of having illegally inflated the plays of the song Not Like Us, by Kendrick Lamar, huge hit online where he was savagely attacked by his rival.

Drake's lawyers accuse the major in particular of having significantly reduced its share of revenue for each stream of the title, in order to encourage the platform to highlight it since it had a financial interest in it. Still according to the Canadian team, UMG paid influencers to promote it on social networks.

But Drake didn't stop there. The same day, this time in a Texas court, he attacked Universal again, asserting that the major had paid iHeartRadio, a radio giant in the United States, to broadcast the title, an illegal practice. The rapper also accuses his label of defamation. UMG, its lawyers say, knew that Lamar's title falsely characterized him as a pedophile, but would have done nothing to prevent the piece's publication.

Universal could have “refuse to publish or distribute the song or demand that the offending material be edited and/or published”, write the lawyers. On the contrary, the major would have “designed, financed and then executed a plan to transform Not Like Us into a viral mega-success […] to spark consumer hysteria and, of course, generate massive revenue. This plan succeeded, probably beyond UMG's wildest expectations.”

For the moment, Drake and his team are not filing a complaint, but are initiating initial procedures to collect evidence for possible legal action. However, the Canadian is clearly ready to cut all ties with the major which has supported him throughout his career.