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Drake is going to court for his musical feud with Kendrick Lamar. The Canadian rapper claimed that Spotify and Universal Music Group were involved in a “scheme to ensure”
That Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, “Not Like Us,” “broke through” on many streaming services in a petition submitted to the New York Supreme Court on Monday.
According to him, UMG used dishonest methods to increase the number of people listening to the Lamar song.
On radio stations and Spotify, which caused “Not Like Us” to break a few Spotify records and peak at No. 1 twice on the Billboard Top 100.
“UMG’s schemes to artificially inflate the popularity of ‘Not Like Us’ were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope (Records) to maximize their own profits,”
According to Drake’s appeal. He believes UMG used bribes, dishonest business tactics, and misleading advertising to racketeer.
In order to bring a lawsuit, Drake requested that the court force the firms to provide pre-action discovery, or material pertaining to his allegations.
Social internet responds to Drake’s lawsuit threat about Kendrick’s hate song “Not Like Us.” Do you need a rest? Try your hand at the USA TODAY Daily Crossword.
According to Variety and Billboard, the rapper filed a second lawsuit in Texas on Tuesday, bringing the case over state borders. As part of a “pay-to-play scheme” to get the song on the radio,
UMG allegedly sent “funneled payments” to iHeart Radio, according to the latest petition. A more thorough examination of Drake’s anger at UMG may also be found in the complaint.
According to the sites, he accuses the music behemoth of knowing that Lamar “falsely” claimed to be a pedophile in his song but still releasing it.
“UMG planned, funded, and carried out a strategy to make ‘Not Like Us’ a viral mega-hit in order to use the threat to Drake and his companies.
To incite consumer panic and, of course, generate enormous profits. Drake’s attorneys wrote, “That plan succeeded, probably beyond UMG’s wildest expectations.”
Frozen Moments, LLC was mentioned as the petitioner in the New York filing. According to Florida’s Division of Corporations, Drake is a management of the LLC.
The music company told USA TODAY that it was “offensive and untrue to suggest that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists.” “We use the most moral methods in our advertising and marketing initiatives.
Fans pick the music they want to hear, and this pre-action submission’s fabricated and ridiculous legal reasons cannot change that reality.”
Drake claims that “pay-to-play schemes” are being used by Universal Music. According to Drake, “UMG charged Spotify licensing rates 30 percent lower than.
Its usual licensing rates for ‘Not Like Us’ in exchange for Spotify affirmatively recommending the song to users who are searching for other unrelated songs and artists.”
Using a quote from an unidentified “whistleblower” on a podcast, Drake further charges the business of working with “unknown parties”
To buy bots that “artificially inflate the spread of ‘Not Like Us’ and deceive consumers into believing the Song was more popular than it was in reality.”
“Not Like Us” has had 914 million Spotify streams to date. Lamar’s “Humble.” has received 2.4 billion streams, making it his most streamed song.
Drake came in at number four on Spotify’s list of the world’s most streamed musicians last year. In 2023, Lamar was not included in any of the Top 10 artists.
UMG allegedly “engaged in similar pay-to-play schemes to increase the airplay of ‘Not Like Us’ on the radio,” or payola, according to the petition filed on Monday.
Drake claims that by “terminating employees associated with or perceived as having loyalty to Drake,” the firm tried to hide these “schemes.” “Licensing and streaming are a zero-sum sport.
According to the petition, “every time a song ‘breaks through,’ it means another artist does not.” Drake and other artists are harmed by UMG’s decision to oversaturate the music industry with “Not Like Us.”
Because Drake is the only owner of the petitioner and the petitioner has the rights to Drake’s whole catalog, the plan by UMG caused the petitioner to incur financial losses.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar have agreements with Universal Music Group, which handles their music distribution.
Everything ‘GNX’: Following his unexpected album, Kendrick Lamar releases a new music video An overview of the 2024 dispute between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
More than ten years ago, in 2013, Lamar spoke on the Big Sean song “Control” about wanting to “murder” Drake and other well-known rappers,
Which sparked the beginning of his rivalry with Drake. “Not Like Us” was released on May 4 as Kendrick Lamar’s catchy response to Drake’s attack on his radio hitmaking skills.
Drake is referred to as a “certified pedophile” in the song, which was produced by DJ Mustard and included the inflammatory line,
“Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A-Minor.” In addition, Lamar attacks Drake’s business connections, his appropriation of certain Black American.
Cultural elements, and his lyrics, accusing him of being “God’s plan to show y’all the liar.” Prior to “Not Like Us,” the two exchanged jabs (and bars).
Lamar’s inclusion on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” in March paved the way for Drake’s complete diss tune “Push Ups,” followed by Lamar’s “Euphoria” and “6:16 in LA.”
The two rappers will compete in the top rap artist and top male rap artist categories after receiving nominations for Billboard Music Awards on Monday.
Drake, who hasn’t submitted anything to the Recording Academy in years, got zero Grammy nominations earlier this month, while Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” garnered five.