Drake accuses Universal of manipulating popularity of Kendrick Lamar

Just when you thought the hip-hop beef was over, the ongoing feud between Kendrick Lamar and Drake has taken a surprising turn.

While we won’t resume the whole back and forth between the two musicians – an endlessly entertaining battle of beats which was the equivalent of throwing a Canadian Chiwawa into a lion enclosure, and saw Kendrick Lamar comfortably emerge victorious – it seems that Drake just can’t get over it.

Indeed, Drake has alleged in a court filing that Universal Music Group (UMG) falsely pumped up the popularity on Spotify and other streaming services of Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’ – the song that was the final nail in Drake’s coffin and exposed him as the weaker of the two artists.

The petition in a New York court by the rapper’s company Frozen Moments LLC demands the preservation and divulgence of information that might be evidence in a potential lawsuit against UMG, which is the distributor for the record labels of both Drake and Lamar.

The filing says the record company “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, ‘Not Like Us,’ in order to make that song go viral, including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.” It said the company and Spotify “have a long-standing, symbiotic business relationship” and alleges that UMG offered special licensing rates to Spotify for the song.

The petition also says UMG has fired employees seen as loyal to Drake “in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes.”

UMG has said in a statement that the “suggestion that UMG 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.”

Ouch.

The move to court, while not yet a lawsuit, still represents a major escalation of the feud, one which reveals that Drake can’t accept the fact that he was out of his depth, not only losing the battle of dueling tracks but also the war, and is now grasping at straws. Especially since 2024 has very much been Kendrick Lamar’s year, having dropped hit after hit, been asked to headline the next Super Bowl halftime show, and surprise released his new album ‘GNX’ last Friday – much to the delight of hip-hop fans worldwide.

The Drake-damaging ‘Not Like Us’, which includes the lyrics, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young / You better not ever go to cell block one (…) Why you trollin’ like a bitch? Ain’t you tired? / Tryin’ strike a chord and it‘s probably A minor” – a reference to the accusation that Drake has had relationships with underaged women (which Drake has denied) – has gotten more than 900 million plays, according to figures listed on Spotify, and has been nominated for five 2025 Grammy Awards. These include Record of the Year and Song of the Year.

Drake was not nominated for any Grammys.

While such disagreements are par for the course in hip-hop, and it remains unclear whether the proceedings will progress to a full lawsuit, Drake is not helping his image with what seems to be petty accusations – all of which have been denied.

Adding to his sentiment of pettiness from the Canadian artist is his recent announcement that his first tour of Australia in eight years will begin on the same date as Kendrick Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime performance.

Additional sources • Variety, AP