Drake accuses Spotify of artificially boosting Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’

Drake has accused Spotify and Universal Music Group of artificially boosting Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” earlier this year.

The Canadian creator filed ineligible documents Monday successful Manhattan claiming Spotify and UMG conspired to use bots, payola and assorted different methods to guarantee “Not Like Us” topped the charts, Billboard reported.

The docs impeach Spotify and UMG of violating the RICO enactment and using deceptive concern practices successful New York, according to Billboard. The filing was a “pre-action petition,” not a lawsuit, truthful it does not question immoderate damages.

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This March 20, 2018 record photograph shows the Spotify app connected an iPad successful Baltimore. (Patrick Semansky/AP)

“Not Like Us” dominated streams and airwaves passim the summer, with millions listening to Lamar impeach Drake of being a pedophile and a “colonizer” arsenic their beef continued to escalate. Vice President Kamala Harris adjacent referenced it astatine the BET Awards.

But Drake claimed the opus reached monolithic success done “a run to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves” tally by Spotify and UMG, Variety reported.

He further alleged the opus was licensed to Spotify astatine a reduced complaint and that UMG paid Apple to person its dependable assistant, Siri, misdirect radical to “Not Like Us” during different requests, according to Variety.

Though different streaming services were not named successful the action, Drake and his attorneys further claimed UMG utilized akin practices arsenic well, Variety reported.

The pre-action petition is simply a announcement successful New York that lets a enactment cognize they volition beryllium asked for accusation successful a forthcoming lawsuit. It was peculiarly astonishing due to the fact that UMG distributes some Drake and Lamar’s music, but Drake inactive named the institution arsenic a imaginable defendant.

Drake filed the documents connected the archetypal concern time aft Lamar released a astonishment album, “GNX,” that continued to poke astatine the Canadian artist. Lamar, who is not named arsenic a imaginable defendant, did not instantly comment.