Drake claims Spotify and Universal schemed to boost Lamar’s summer hit ‘Not Like Us’

Months after seeming to give up on his rap feud with Kendrick Lamar, Drake went to court this week, claiming that his own music distributor Universal Music Group, the streaming giant Spotify and the radio conglomerate iHeartMedia worked to artificially inflate the popularity of Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” a chart-topping diss track that suggested that Drake was a pedophile.

Two petitions filed Monday - in New York by Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC and in Bexar County, Texas, under the musician’s legal name, Aubrey Drake Graham - allege that Universal, Spotify and iHeartMedia used bots, pay-to-play schemes and other deceptive business practices to boost airplay for Lamar’s summertime bop, which went No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.

The petitions accuse UMG and Spotify of violating racketeering laws, of false advertising and of deceptive business practices, among other alleged underhanded practices. In the Texas filing, Drake says Universal “designed, financed, and then executed a plan” to turn “Not Like Us” “into a viral megahit with the intent of using the spectacle to harm Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues.” The company did this, he alleges, despite knowing that Lamar was referring to Drake when he sang, citing no evidence, about a “certified pedophile” and “predator.”

Universal has denied any wrongdoing. “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” a spokesperson for UMG said in a statement to The Washington Post. “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.”

The filings came mere days after Lamar released his new album, “GNX,” in which he takes slight jabs at Drake following the war of words between the two rappers earlier this year. Both Lamar and Drake are signed to the UMG record label. Despite Drake’s claims against Spotify, the Canadian rapper still has millions more monthly listeners than Lamar, even after the release of “GNX.”

Neither of the filings are lawsuits, but rather pre-action court petitions to help Drake and his attorneys obtain more information that could be used later in potential suits.

“This is not Drake going after Kendrick, but Drake looking into the widespread business practices of his label UMG, which represents both artists,” representatives for Drake said.

Representatives for Lamar and Spotify did not respond to The Post’s requests for comment.

Monday’s filing in New York says UMG “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, ‘Not Like Us,’ to make that song go viral, including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.”

The petition claims that UMG paid or approved payments to Apple so that Siri would “misdirect” music listeners to the song. The filing points to a Vibe article in which people said they asked Siri to play Drake’s 2021 album, “Certified Lover Boy,” but were offered “Not Like Us” instead, because it contains the phrase “certified pedophile” - an accusation Lamar tossed at Drake during the song. (The song’s full lyrics are, “Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles,” though the petition specifically refers to the phrase “certified pedophile.”)

It also claims that UMG employees loyal to Drake were fired from the company and that Lamar’s label paid influencers to promote the song without disclosing it.

According to the petition, Drake has been trying to engage with UMG over “the ongoing harm he has suffered as a result of UMG’s action,” but Universal hasn’t engaged with Drake. Instead, according to the filing, UMG told the “Hotline Bling” rapper to sue Lamar “and even threatened to bring its own legal claims” against Lamar “if Drake were to pursue claims against UMG.”

Lamar’s “Not Like Us” - which accused Drake of being a pedophile, a liar and a “colonizer” of the Atlanta rap scene - was deemed by many as the song that won the California rapper the beef between the two hip-hop stars. The song has more than 914 million streams on Spotify and is up for five Grammy Awards.

Lamar performed “Not Like Us” and his other body of work at his “Pop Out” show in Los Angeles on Juneteenth. He also announced that he will perform at the halftime show at next year’s Super Bowl. His new album, “GNX,” debuted to widespread critical acclaim.

Since the beef, Drake has shared documentary footage from his career on a project-specific website and released a handful of songs that briefly mention his post-beef thoughts. He announced Sunday that he is performing in Australia on Super Bowl Sunday, and he is close to finishing a new album with collaborator PartyNextDoor.