Drake threatens to sue Universal Music Group for inflating 'Not Like Us' streams

Drake is taking his rap beef with Kendrick Lamar to court.

In a petition filed Monday in New York Supreme Court, the Canadian rapper accused Universal Music Group and Spotify of engaging in a "scheme to ensure" Lamar's diss track, "Not Like Us," "broke through" on multiple streaming platforms. He claimed UMG used underhanded tactics to garner more listeners for the Lamar song on Spotify and radio stations, which resulted in "Not Like Us" breaking a few Spotify records and landing 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," Drake's petition claims. He suspects UMG engaged in racketeering through bribery as well as deceptive business practices and false advertising.

As such, Drake asked the court to order the companies to hand over evidence related to his claims, otherwise known as pre-action discovery, so he could file a legal complaint.

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The filing in New York named Frozen Moments, LLC as the petitioner. Drake is a manager of the LLC, per Florida's Division of Corporations.

"The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue," the music corporation said in a statement to USA TODAY. "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."

A Spotify spokesperson declined to comment.

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Drake accuses Universal Music of gaming Spotify in Kendrick Lamar's favor

Among Drake's claims in his New York petition is that "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."

Citing a statement from an unknown "whistleblower" on a podcast, Drake also accuses the company of conspiring with "unknown parties" to purchase 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."

To date, "Not Like Us" has garnered 914 million plays on Spotify. Lamar's "Humble." is his most-streamed track, with 2.4 billion streams. Last year, Drake landed at No. 4 on Spotify's list of most-streamed artists globally. Lamar was not named among the Top 10 artists in any metric in 2023.

Monday's petition claims UMG "engaged in similar pay-to-play schemes to increase the airplay of 'Not Like Us' on the radio," known as payola. Drake alleges the company attempted to cover up these "schemes" by "terminating employees associated with or perceived as having loyalty to Drake."

"Streaming and licensing is a zero-sum game. Every time a song 'breaks through,' it means another artist does not," the petition says. "UMG’s choice to saturate the music market with 'Not Like Us' comes at the expense of its other artists, like Drake. As Drake is Petitioner’s sole owner, and Petitioner owns the copyright to Drake’s entire catalogue, Petitioner suffered economic harm as a result of UMG's scheme."

Both Drake and Lamar have deals with Universal Music Group, which distributes their music.

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Drake files a second petition in Texas

The rapper also took the legal dispute across state lines with a Nov. 21 filing in Bexar County, Texas, that named him as the petitioner. The new petition, obtained by USA TODAY on Tuesday, said Drake's team suspected UMG of having "funneled payments" to iHeartRadio — which is headquartered in San Antonio — as part of a "pay-to-play scheme" to "inflate artificially the metrics" and spread "Not Like Us" across the airwaves.

"UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn 'Not Like Us' into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations," Drake's lawyers wrote.

The filing also offers a more detailed look at Drake's ire toward UMG over the allegations against Drake in Lamar's song. His petition claimed the company "knew that the song itself, as well as its accompanying album art and music video, attacked the character of another one of UMG’s most prominent artists, Drake, by falsely accusing him of being a sex offender, engaging in pedophilic acts, harboring sex offenders, and committing other criminal sexual acts."

Due to UMG's control over the licensing of "Not Like Us" through Interscope Records, Drake's lawyers said, the company "could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed."

While noting that Drake's team "has been unable to confirm whether any iHeartRadio stations were among the stations paid as part of UMG’s pay-to-play scheme," they accuse UMG of making "covert payments to a number of platforms, including radio stations, to play and promote 'Not Like Us' without disclosing those payments to listeners."

Kendrick Lamar and Drake's 2024 feud: A summary

Lamar and Drake's feud goes back more than a decade to 2013 when Lamar rapped on the Big Sean song "Control" about how he wanted to "murder" Drake and other prominent rappers. On May 4, "Not Like Us" was released as Lamar's catchy clapback to Drake, who has insulted Lamar's ability to make a radio hit.

The DJ Mustard-produced song calls Drake a "certified pedophile" and includes the incendiary lyric: "Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A-Minor." Lamar also comes for Drake's industry friendships, his appropriation of certain aspects of Black American culture and shoots his lyrics back at him saying it was "God's plan to show y'all the liar."

In the lead-up to "Not Like Us," the two traded barbs (and bars), starting with Lamar's feature on Future and Metro Boomin's "Like That" in March which led to Drake's full diss track "Push Ups," then Lamar's "Euphoria" and "6:16 in LA."

Both rappers on Monday received Billboard Music Award nominations and will face off in the top rap artist and top male rap artist categories. Earlier this month, Lamar's "Not Like Us" earned five Grammy nominations while Drake, who has not entered any submissions to the Recording Academy in recent years, received zero nods.

Contributing: Naledi Ushe, Anna Kaufman

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drake threatens lawsuit over inflated 'Not Like Us' streams