Now, the NBA is talking about the reignited beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
“Inside the NBA” hosted by Charles Barkley, Ernie Johnson, Hall Shaquille O’Neal, and Kenny Smith spoke about jokingly mentioned the legal actions Drake is taking against Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) for allegedly boosting streams of Kendrick’s “Not Like Us.”
On the Nov. 27 episode of the sports show, in the background, Kendrick’s “TV Off” is playing with the now-viral lyric “Mustaaaaaaaaard” — a shoutout to producer Mustard who created the “Not Like Us” beat and “TV Off” — when one of the hosts jokes that they should turn the song off because they didn’t want to get into legal trouble with Drake.
DJ Akademiks, who was a key player in the beef by sharing conversations with Drake while the rappers went back-to-back via diss tracks, commented on the clip by resharing it on Instagram, “Why they trolling the [goat emoji],”
Drake’s Legal Claims Against UMG and Spotify
This week, Drake made headlines twice for the legal action he is taking against UMG and Spotify for Kendrick’s streams on his diss track “Not Like Us” which was aimed at the Canadian rapper. According to Drake, the streams on the song were artificial and were boosted by a “scheme” with bots and payola to promote the song. The attorneys are accusing UMG of “false advertisement, deceptive business practices, and violating the RICO Act.”
“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” attorneys for Drake’s company wrote in the pre-action filed Monday. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”
The legal action Drake has taken is not a lawsuit but a “pre-action disclosure.” It is also important to note that Drake is signed to UMG through Republic Records. Drake reportedly inked a $400m deal with the music company in 2022.
The second filing, which was made public on Tuesday, Nov. 26, — a day after the initial filing — has Drake accusing UMG of defamation, writing that they could have blocked the release of the diss track for “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.”
Several times on “Not Like Us” Kendrick refers to Drake and his team as pedophiles
“To any b*tch that talk to him and they in love/Just make sure you hide your lil’ sister from him,” Kendrick raps.
Later in the first verse, Kendrick raps, “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles/Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, Dot, f*ck ’em up/
Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I’ma do my stuff/Why you trollin’ like a b*tch? Ain’t you tired?/Tryna strike a chord and it’s probably A minor.”
Additionally, he accused UMG of having knowledge of the false claims on “Not Like Us” but they still released it.
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“UMG … could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” Drake’s lawyers wrote in the filing. “But UMG chose to do the opposite. 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.”
As for Spotify, Drake’s legal team claims that the streamer was used to “bot” and inflate streams for Kendrick’s diss track. An alleged “whistleblower” was paid for knowing behind-the-scenes information about breaching security.
“The whistleblower described Spotify as the easiest platform ‘to bot’ because it does not, like other streaming platforms, have certain security measures ‘when it comes to bot protection,’” the filing claims. “The whistleblower further revealed that, on May 6, 2024, an individual affiliated with Interscope sent him a payment of $2,500 via the digital payments platform, Zelle.”
While Spotify has yet to respond to Drake’s accusations, UMG spoke about the legal action taken against the music distributer.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the UMG spokesperson said. “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.”
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