Drake's UMG and Spotify Lawsuit Over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us"

Submission 528

Part of a series on Kendrick Lamar vs. Drake Feud. [View Related Entries]

Overview

Drake's UMG and Spotify Lawsuit Over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" refers to a November 2024 pre-lawsuit petition filed by recording artist Drake against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, alleging that the companies artificially inflated the popularity of rapper Kendrick Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us," which capped off the feud between Drake and Lamar earlier in 2024. The suit was filed by Drake's Frozen Movements LLC, which stated that bots and payola were used to pump the streaming numbers of the anti-Drake song. The suit accused UMG of violating the Racketeer Influencer and Corrupt Organizations Act, better known as the RICO Act, often used to indict street gang syndicates. The suit also accused the NFR Podcast of not disclosing payments to play and promote "Not Like Us." News of Drake's lawsuit quickly went viral on social media in late November 2024, with users on Twitter / X, Reddit and TikTok, among other social platforms, posting viral memes and reactions to the development. Predominantly, reactions were negative as many believed that Drake's legal actions were weak and antithetical to the culture of rap music. Some meme creators portrayed Drake as inferior to Lamar, using the lawsuit as evidence that Lamar won their feud completely.

Background

On November 25th, 2024, Billboard^[1] reported that Drake's Frozen Movements LLC had initiated legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, accusing the companies of artificially inflating the popularity of Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us" diss track targeting him. The filing was not a full-fledged lawsuit, however, and was instead a "pre-action" petition that aimed to secure information before filing a lawsuit.

Per Billboard,^[1] the filing directly accused UMG and Spotify of "launching an illegal 'scheme' involving bots, payola and other methods to pump up Lamar’s song." The term "payola" means paying radio stations and influencers to promote a song, however, under U.S. law, payola payments must be disclosed. Drake's petition alleged that UMG did not disclose the payola for "Not Like Us," such as on the NFR Podcast (a popular rap music podcast on YouTube and X).

Other news outlets like Variety^[2] began reporting on the event soon after, additionally posting about it on social media. For instance, the X^[3] account of @Variety shared the news in a tweet that received over 4 million views and 44,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Online Reactions

On November 25th, 2024, the news went viral on social media across multiple posts, inspiring viral reactions, memes and jokes, often at Drake's expense. For instance, on that day, X^[4] user @adsb02 tweeted the Can't Believe This My Life, LeBron James meme, captioned, "This has truly been an incredible year to be a Drake hater," gaining over 39,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Also on November 25th, X^[5] user @Charalanahzard posted a quote tweet about Drake not filing for defamation instead, receiving over 64,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Others joked about Drake believing that "bots" were responsible for the inflated streaming numbers of "Not Like Us." For instance, on November 25th, 2024, X^[6] user @karlogan_ tweeted, "Indian people were making 'Not Like Us' remixes at their weddings and Drake thinks bots were involved," gaining over 50,000 likes in a day (shown below).

Memetic reactions also surfaced on Reddit, like a post shared by Redditor^[7] MoreAvatarsForMe to the /r/Drizzy subreddit on November 25th that was pro-Drake amid the backlash. The Leave the Multimillion Dollar Company Alone meme joked about people defending UMG, reading, "Leave the multibillion-dollar company alone… They not like us!" gaining over 510 upvotes in a day (shown below).

On TikTok, users also reacted to the news with memes. For instance, on November 25th, 2024, TikToker^[8] @robert__isaac posted a skit about Drake not filing a defamation lawsuit instead, gaining over 1.3 million plays and 191,200 likes in a day (shown below).

Developments

NFR Podcast's Involvement

On November 25th, 2024, X^[9] user @wowthatshiphop tweeted passages from Drake's petition, showing that it accused the NFR Podcast of not disclosing payola from UMG to promote "Not Like Us" on its social media pages. The tweet received over 9,900 likes in a day (shown below).

The concept of Drake targeting the NFR Podcast led to a slew of reactions and memes. For instance, on November 25th, X^[10] user @ByDobson tweeted a video of the podcast's hosts dancing while listening to "FE!N," captioned, "Drake put these 2 guys in a RICO bro," amassing over 17,000 likes in a day (shown below).

UMG's Response

Later on November 25th, 2024, a UMG spokesperson reached out to Billboard^[1] for comment. UMG owns the rights to both Drake and Kendrick Lamar's music. The spokesperson said:

"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."