Drake sues record label over Kendrick Lamar song

Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' was one of the biggest songs of 2024, and no one is more upset than his nemesis Drake.  

The Canadian rapper filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, claiming they colluded to "artificially inflate" the song's success.

According to Variety, Drake's company,  Frozen Moments LLC, claims the record label and the music streaming giant “engaged in conduct designed to artificially inflate the popularity of ‘Not Like Us’… including by licensing the song at drastically reduced rates to Spotify and using ‘bots’ to generate the false impression that the song was more popular than it was in reality.”

"Not Like Us' is a song Kendrick released in May as a diss song against Drake. No love is lost between the rappers, with the pair taking shots against each other in the past. 

 Their beef escalated in 2024, with both musicians releasing diss tracks against each other. In 'Not Like Us', Kendrick accuses Drake of liking young girls, insinuating that he is a paedophile. 

"Certified Lover Boy? Certified pedophiles/ Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, Dot, f**k 'em up/ Wop, wop, wop, wop, wop, I'ma do my stuff/ Why you trollin' like a b***h? Ain't you tired?/ Tryna strike a chord and it's probably A minor," he raps. 

The song raced to number one on the Billboard Hot 100, and became a viral hit online, with scores of people chanting:

They not like us, they not like us, they not like us
They not like us, they not like us, they not like us

The track, which has been streamed more than 900-million times on Spotify, has been nominated for four awards at the 2025 Grammys, including 'Record of the Year', 'Song of the Year', and 'Best Rap Song'.

The 'Not Like Us' music video is also up for an award. Kendrick received a total of seven nominations. 

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Social media users have accused Drake of being a Karen, calling his lawsuit "embarrassing" and a "joke".

"This was the first rap song my 7-year-old committed to memory. 100k of those streams came from him," one man said on Instagram. 

Many told Drake to accept that Kendrick won this round, and 'Not Like Us' was the rap song of 2024. 

"Karen energy coming from Drake. The L has been certified with this lawsuit," an X user wrote. 

UMG, meanwhile, denied Drake's accusations.

"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," the record label told Variety. 

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Main image credit: YouTube/ Kendrick Lamar,  Instagram/@champagnepapi