Drake is no longer pursuing the first of two petitions against Universal Music Group, which accused them of using bots and payola to artificially boost Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” On Tuesday (Jan. 14), the Canadian rapper’s Frozen Moments LLC filed to voluntarily withdraw the case “without costs to any party” in Manhattan court.
Initially filed in November 2024, Drake alleged that UMG orchestrated a “campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.” He also claimed Spotify offered the label “drastically reduced rates” to make Lamar’s diss track appear more successful than it really was. According to the Views artist, Interscope Records executives simply wanted to “maximize their own profits.”
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” a spokesperson for the music conglomerate responded. “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.”
Spotify, for its part, stated it had “no economic incentive for users to stream ‘Not Like Us’ over any of Drake’s tracks.” In their statement, they explained, “Only one of Spotify for Artists’ tools, Marquee, was purchased on behalf of the song, for €500 to promote the track in France. Marquee is a visual ad that is disclosed to users as a Sponsored Recommendation.”
It is worth mentioning that Drake’s second petition against UMG, filed in Texas, remains active, with a hearing set for later this month. Originally scheduled for Monday (Jan. 13), it was postponed to Jan. 28. In that particular legal action, he argued that UMG distributed “Not Like Us” with the knowledge that it “falsely” accused him of being a pedophile.
Since lodging the two petitions, a surprising number of artists have voiced their support for Drake. 50 Cent, for instance, told Andrew Schulz on the “Flagrant” podcast, “Everything he said [UMG] did in that lawsuit, they did it.” Russ also weighed in, pointing out that Spotify “outing major labels is a lose-lose for everyone involved.”