Drake alleges Universal falsely inflated popularity of Kendrick Lamar diss track 'Not Like Us'

ENT

Drake alleges Universal falsely inflated popularity of Kendrick Lamar diss track 'Not Like Us'

2024-11-26 12:08 Last Updated At：12:10

Drake alleged in a court filing Monday that Universal Music Group falsely pumped up the popularity on Spotify and other streaming services of Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us," a song that viciously attacked Drake amid a bitter feud between the two hip-hop superstars.

The petition in a New York court by the rapper's company Frozen Moments LLC demands the preservation and divulgence of information that might be evidence in a potential lawsuit against UMG, which is the distributor for the record labels of both Drake and Lamar.

In allegations that UMG calls “offensive and untrue,” the filing says the record company “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, ‘Not Like Us,’ in order to make that song go viral, including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.” It said the company and Spotify “have a long-standing, symbiotic business relationship” and alleges that UMG offered special licensing rates to Spotify for the song.

The petition also says UMG has fired employees seen as loyal to Drake "in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes."

Universal Music Group said in a statement in response that 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.”

“Not Like Us,” the wildly popular Lamar single released in May as part of a flurry of dueling tracks by the two artists, includes the lyrics, “Say, Drake, I hear you like ’em young, You better not ever go to cell block one.” It has gotten more than 900 million plays, according to figures listed on Spotify.

Spotify representatives declined immediate comment, but in a statement on a previous case, the company said it “invests heavily in automated and manual reviews to prevent, detect, and mitigate the impact of artificial streaming on our platform,” and in broader public statements has said it has gone to great lengths to mitigate the effects of bad actors on streaming numbers and royalties.

The feud between Drake, a 38-year-old Canadian rapper and singer and five-time Grammy winner, and Lamar, a 37-year-old Pulitzer Prize winner who is set to headline the next Super Bowl halftime, is among the biggest in hip-hop in recent years, with two of the genre's biggest stars at its center.

The two were occasional collaborators more than a decade ago, but Lamar began taking public jabs at Drake starting in 2013. The fight escalated steeply earlier this year. The move to court, while not yet a lawsuit, still represents a major escalation of the feud and involves some of the biggest business partners of both men.

Hellebuyck makes 43 saves, Iafallo scores twice to give Jets 4-1 win over Wild

2024-11-26 11:55 Last Updated At：12:01

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Connor Hellebuyck made a season-high 43 saves, Alex Iafallo scored two goals, and the Winnipeg Jets beat the Minnesota Wild 4-1 on Monday night in a game between two of the Western Conference's best.

The Jets needed each of Hellebuyck’s stops in his league-leading 15th win. Only defenseman Jacob Middleton beat the reigning Vezina Trophy winner, on a rebound in the first period.

Iafallo tied the game less than 1 1/2 minutes later. His second goal came on a tip-in on the power play with 6:40 left in the game. It was the 100th goal of his career.

Nino Niederreiter's backhand from in front of Filip Gustavsson made it 2-1 with 8:55 remaining in the second period. Niederreiter spent 2013-18 in Minnesota and now has seven goals and four assists against his former team.

Minnesota has lost seven straight to the Jets, including a 2-1 overtime defeat earlier this year in Winnipeg.

Jets: Hellebuyck is now in a three-way tie for second in the NHL in goals-against average (2.13). That group includes Gustavsson, who stopped 28 of 31 shots on Monday.

Wild: Kirill Kaprizov returned to the lineup after a one-game absence with a lower-body injury suffered Thursday in Edmonton. The NHL's No. 2 scorer had his franchise-record 11-game point streak snapped.

Niederreiter's goal came off the rush after Middleton fanned on a breakaway at the other end. Teammates Yakov Trenin and Joel Eriksson Ek then became tangled up with Iafallo, and Winnipeg went racing the other direction.

The Wild were outshooting the Jets 36-16 when Niederreiter found the back of the net. Minnesota went nearly 11 minutes without a shot on goal in the third period but still finished with a 44-32 advantage.

The Jets continue a season-long six-game road trip Wednesday at Los Angeles; Minnesota visits Buffalo on Wednesday.

AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl