Drake launches legal claim against Kendrick Lamar and Universal for diss track
Drake has filed a pre-action disclosure against Universal Music Group and Spotify, accusing the two parties of illegally boosting streams for Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ diss track. The filing by Drizzy’s Frozen Moments LLC claims bots, undisclosed payments, and biased recommendations were employed in the alleged practice.
According to Rolling Stone, Universal Music have been accused of false advertisement, deceptive business practices and violating the RICO Act in the filing made on November 25th. The action focuses on the hit single that attacked Drake, in which Kendrick Lamar accused him of paedophilia and sexual misconduct. Kendrick is signed to Universal through Interscope Records, but bizarrely enough, Drake is also signed to the label giant through Republic Records.
“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” attorneys for Drake’s company wrote. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.” They claim the label “conspired with and paid currently unknown parties to use ‘bots’ to artificially inflate the spread of ‘Not Like Us‘ and deceive consumers into believing the song was more popular than it was in reality.”
The filing cites claims from a “whistleblower” on a podcast that they were paid to boost the song after it was released, though there has been no proof that it took place.
“The whistleblower described Spotify as the easiest platform ‘to bot’ because it does not, like other streaming platforms, have certain security measures ‘when it comes to bot protection,’” the filing claims. “The whistleblower further revealed that, on May 6, 2024, an individual affiliated with Interscope sent him a payment of $2,500 via the digital payments platform, Zelle.”
A spokesperson for Universal immediately denied Drake’s allegations, claiming the label is completely ethical in its actions and put the vast amount of streams simply down to public interest.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” they said. “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.”
Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’ peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and was nominated for Song of the Year, Best Rap Song, Record of the Year, Best Rap Performance and Best Music Video at the 2025 Grammys.