Drake v Kendrick: Canadian rapper drops legal suit against UMG and Spotify over Not Like Us
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- Drake has dropped a legal petition against UMG and Spotify after accusing them of inflating streams for Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.”
- The withdrawn filings claimed bots and payola were used to boost the song’s popularity, alleging UMG was complicit in defamation.
- Spotify denies all allegations, calling the claims “baseless” in an opposition brief filed in court.
The ongoing feud between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar has taken a twist overnight after a legal petition against UMG and Spotify was dropped, according to Rolling Stone.
According to court documents obtained by the publication, Drake’s company, Frozen Moments, voluntarily withdrew its filings in a New York court on Tuesday. These filings had included requests for an “Order to Show Cause” that sought to preserve and disclose specific documents and communications from UMG and Spotify.
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Drake initially made legal filings in November, alleging that UMG worked with Spotify and iHeartRadio to artificially inflate the popularity of Lamar’s diss track, which was reportedly aimed at Drake.
The filings suggested that bots and forms of payola were used to boost the song’s stream while, the rapper claimed that UMG was complicit in defamation by supporting claims made in the track.
In response to the allegations, Spotify denied the claims and filed an opposition brief, asserting that there was no agreement to prioritise Lamar’s song. “Spotify has no economic incentive for users to stream ‘Not Like Us’ over any of Drake’s tracks,” a spokesperson for the streaming service stated.
Spotify’s opposition brief argued against Drake’s petition, describing it as baseless.
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Hide Ad“Under cover of the far-fetched contention that this gives rise to a civil RICO claim, Petitioner seeks the extraordinary remedy of pre-action discovery,” the brief stated. “The predicate of Petitioner’s entire request for discovery from Spotify is false: there is no such agreement.”
Do you think this could be a thawing of the beef between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, or do you think the lawsuit was wishful thinking on behalf of the rapper? Let us know your thoughts on this development by leaving a comment down below.
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