Drakeâs Frozen Moments LLC has issued a new legal filing in Manhattan court, accusing Universal Music Group and Spotify of âillegallyâ boosting streams of Kendrick Lamarâs Grammy-nominated diss track âNot Like Usâ by allegedly using bots, undisclosed payments, and biased recommendations, according to court documents viewed by Pitchfork. âUMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,â wrote attorneys for the Canadian rapperâs company. âIt instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.â
Drakeâs attorneys accuse UMG of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), implementing deceptive pay-to-play business practices, and using false advertising under New York state law. In court documents, his attorneys claim they tried to âmeet and confer with UMGâ for the past several months,â but the label âdeclined to enter into substantive negotiationsâ and instead allegedly insisted that they take it up with Lamar directly.
In their pre-action petition, Drakeâs lawyers seek countless documents from UMG and Spotify, including proof of payment or reduced licensing fees provided to the streaming platform in exchange for promoting âNot Like Us,â and the identities of third parties that UMG allegedly hired to use bots to increase streams of the song or music video. At one point in the legal documents, Drakeâs lawyers claim Spotify recommended âNot Like Usâ to users who searched for âunrelated songs and artistsâ as a result of UMGâs reduced licensing fees, that a UMG employee paid an independent radio promoter to âtransfer those paymentsâ to radio stations who aired the song, and that the label paid influencers to promote the song on social media.
A notably specific claim that Drakeâs lawyers make in these documents is that UMG paid Apple Inc. to have Siri âpurposely misdirectâ users to âNot Like Usâ when they ask Siri to play Drakeâs 2021 album Certified Lover Boy. (Of course, âNot Like Usâ includes the infamous lyric and allegation âCertified Lover Boy?/ Certified pedophile.â)
Drakeâs lawyers paint a picture in the legal filings of UMG suppressing its own staff who spoke out against these alleged actions, writing, â[We] received information that UMG has been taking steps in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes, including, but not limited to, by terminating employees associated with or perceived as having loyalty to Drake.â
A Universal Music Group spokesperson denied Drakeâs claims in a statement, writing, âThe suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. 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.â
âNot Like Usâ debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 back in May, and has since remained one of the most popular songs of 2024. Drakeâs retort, âFamily Matters,â landed at No. 7 on the singles chart. His last album, For All the Dogs, came out in October of last year, while Lamar surprise released a new full-length this past Friday titled GNX.
