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Grammy-winning rapper Drake poses at the 2019 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 1, 2019, months before his highly publicized feud with fellow rapper Kendrick Lamar would escalate into a bitter dispute over allegedly manipulated streaming numbers.
Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
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Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP
Drake has filed a petition in the New York court system, alleging that music giant Universal Music Group (UMG) and streaming giant Spotify conspired to artificially inflate the streaming and radio numbers of Kendrick Lamar’s chart-topping single “Not Like Us,” amid a months-long feud between the two rappers that has played out in a series of diss tracks and public jabs.
In the petition, Drake accuses UMG of engaging in a wide-ranging campaign to promote “Not Like Us,” including paying influencers and radio stations to play the song and using bots to artificially boost its streaming numbers in a bid to damage his own streaming figures and reputation.
Drake claims that UMG’s efforts were part of a broader scheme to prioritize Lamar’s music over his own, citing a multi-year licensing agreement between UMG and Spotify that gave the streaming giant a 30% discount on licensing fees for “Not Like Us” in exchange for frequent recommendations of the song to users.
The petition sheds new light on the long-simmering feud between Drake and Lamar, two of the biggest names in hip-hop, who have released numerous number one hits and won multiple Grammys between them, and have collaborated on several occasions in the past, despite being signed to the same record label, UMG.
Drake alleges that UMG’s manipulation of streaming numbers extended beyond Spotify, citing instances in which users who asked Apple Music’s virtual assistant Siri to play his album “Certified Lover Boy” were instead played “Not Like Us,” and claiming that UMG fired employees who were perceived as being loyal to him.
In a statement cited by the Associated Press, UMG strenuously denied Drake’s allegations, saying that “the suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” and asserting that the company employs “the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.”
While the precise origins of the feud between Drake and Lamar are unclear, the two rappers have exchanged numerous jabs and insults on recent tracks, culminating in Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” which spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and has racked up over 900,000 streams on Spotify.
In his petition, Drake requests discovery of the identities of the individuals and entities allegedly paid by UMG and Spotify to promote and stream “Not Like Us,” arguing that “every time a song ‘breaks through,’ it means another artist does not,” and claiming that UMG’s prioritization of Lamar’s music has come at his own expense.
