It looks like the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar beef has taken another turn, and Spotify’s not having a bar of it. The music streaming platform has come out swinging against Drake’s claims that they helped boost Kendrick’s diss track “Not Like Us” to the top of the charts.
Let’s rewind a bit, shall we? In November, Drake threw his toys out of the pram and filed a petition accusing Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) of some seriously shady business. He reckoned they were using bots, payola, and who knows what else to pump up Kendrick’s track and Drake made that known in a legal filing last month.
But Spotify’s having absolutely none of it. In their court filing, they’ve flatly stated: “Spotify and UMG have never had any such arrangement,” as reported by Billboard.
The most juicy part? Spotify’s lawyers are basically calling Drake’s claims ridiculous. They argue that his petition relies “exclusively on speculation… or the claims of anonymous individuals on the internet”. Ouch.
Drake’s legal team fired back, claiming: “It is not surprising that Spotify is trying to distance themselves from UMG’s allegedly manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers.” Oop, big claims are being thrown around and I am sat.
The numbers do tell an interesting story. “Not Like Us” has racked up 914 million plays on Spotify, while Drake’s own diss track “Family Matters” sits at a mere 122 million streams. If Spotify is being for real, it does seem like the fans have just spoken, and they’re vibing with Kendrick.
These are the songs, if you’d like to listen for yourself:
UMG’s statement says it all: “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.”
Looks like Drake might need to take this L and move on. The hip-hop court of public opinion has already made its verdict, and it’s not looking good for him.
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