Drake has filed legal action against UMG and Spotify over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” claiming the song’s numbers were inflated. Keep watching to see the full story.
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00:00♪ I'm about to click out all this shit, I'm about to click ♪
00:03Drake is in his first-person shooter mood
00:05as he files legal action against UMG and Spotify,
00:09alleging that the two companies conspired
00:11to artificially inflate the popularity
00:13of Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us track.
00:16♪ They not like us, they not like us, they not like us ♪
00:19This is the beef that keeps on beefing.
00:21After cooling down for a few months,
00:23new tensions arise in the ongoing strife
00:26between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
00:28Mere days after Kendrick Lamar released his latest album,
00:31GNX, which takes a few shots at the Canadian rapper,
00:34the petty king himself turned things up a notch
00:36by filing on Monday in Manhattan court.
00:39Drake's attorneys accused UMG of violating
00:41the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act,
00:44the federal RICO statue often used in criminal cases
00:47against organized crime.
00:49They also alleged deceptive business practices
00:52and false advertising under New York state law.
00:54The legal action comes as a surprise
00:56as UMG has distributed Drake's music for his entire career.
01:00In a statement to Billboard,
01:01a UMG spokesperson sharply denied Drake's allegations.
01:04The suggestion that UMG would do anything
01:07to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue.
01:10We employ the highest ethical practices
01:12in our marketing and promotional campaigns.
01:14No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments
01:16in this pre-action submission can mask the fact
01:19that fans chose the music they want to hear.
01:22In their filings, Drake's lawyers write,
01:24UMG conspired and paid currently unknown parties
01:27to use bots to artificially inflate the spread
01:29of Not Like Us and deceive customers
01:32into believing the song was more popular
01:34than it was in reality.
01:36From the looks of things, this beef isn't going anywhere.
01:38They're locked in and so are we.
01:41Billboard has reached out to reps for Spotify
01:43and Kendrick for comment.
01:45We'll keep you updated as this story develops
01:47here on Billboard News.