Drake Accuses Universal Music Group and Spotify of Using Bots and Payola To Boost Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us"

Drake has officially filed a legal petition against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify over accusations of illegally boosting “Not Like Us,” Kendrick Lamar‘s diss track aimed at the OVO head.

Billboard reports that Drizzy’s Frozen Moments LLC filed in Manhattan court on November 25, claiming that UMG violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, utilized bots, payola and other illegal tactics, participated in “deceptive business practices” and used false advertising under New York state law. While the filing is not considered a lawsuit, the petition could allow for the gathering of information prior to any full-blown lawsuit, and the initial parties named may or may not be involved in any future legal actions.

Drake’s legal team alleges that some of UMG’s tactics include charging Spotify reduced licensing rates in return for the streaming service suggesting “Not Like Us” to users who have searched “unrelated songs and artists,” paying influencers to promote the diss track on social media and hiring bot armies to fraudulently inflate the song’s numbers. They also accused the record label of paying Apple to get Siri to “purposely misdirect users” to the track. “UMG … 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 petition read. “Online sources reported that when users asked Siri to play the album Certified Lover Boy by [Drake], Siri instead played ‘Not Like Us,’ which contains the lyric ‘certified pedophile,’ an allegation against Drake.”

They further asserted that UMG boosted “Not Like Us” partly due to financial incentives, as Dot licenses his record label pgLang via Interscope. “UMG’s schemes … were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope to maximize their own profits,” the lawyers wrote. “Executives at Interscope have been incentivized to maximize the financial success of Interscope through the promotion of ‘Not Like Us’ and its revitalizing impact on the artist’s prior recording catalog.” Drizzy, who is signed under UMG’s Republic Records, had already supposedly brought up the issue with UMG prior to the filing, but the label has “no interest in taking responsibility for its misconduct” and even went as far as firing employees “perceived as having loyalty to Drake.”

“Drake has repeatedly sought to engage UMG in discussions to resolve the ongoing harm he has suffered as a result of UMG’s actions,” the petition continued. “UMG refused to engage in negotiations, and insisted that UMG is not responsible for its own actions.” Instead of holding themselves accountable, the label reportedly placed the blame on Lamar, asserting that Drake’s lawsuit should focus on his rap rival instead. UMG also supposedly said that it would sue Lamar if Drake filed a lawsuit.

In a statement to Billboard, a UMG spokesperson sharply denied Drake’s allegations: “The 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,” a UMG rep told Billboard. Spotify declined to comment.

Earlier this year, Drizzy and Dot went head-to-head in a highly-publicized rap beef that resulted in the release of several diss tracks including “Not Like Us,” “meet the grahams” and more.