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Singer and Kick streamer Drake alleged that UMG unfairly promoted Kendrick Lamar’s song Not Like Us to boost its popularity.
In a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG), singer Aubrey Drake Marshall accused the publisher of unfairly promoting Kendrick Lamar’s viral song Not Like Us. He claimed that UMG removed the copyright from the song just to allow streamers to react to it and republish the song.
In the same lawsuit, the artist also accused Not Like Us of being a defamatory song. Popular content creators Kai Cenat, RDC Gaming, and Cartier Family are mentioned in the lawsuit as they reacted to Kendrick’s song on stream.
UMG is yet to respond to Drake’s claims in court. On December 20, 2024, Spotify released documents denying all allegations of working with UMG to inflate Kendrick Lamar’s views on the platform.
Drake’s Allegations Against Universal Media Group
Drake, who filed his lawsuit at the United States District Court in New York said in an official document:
“These content creators could not have legally republished the Defamatory Material in full or profited from their reaction videos without UMG first whitelisting the Recording.”
Drake alleges in the lawsuit that UMG permitted content creators such as Kai Cenat, Zias, NoLifeShaq, RDC Gaming, and CartierFamily to monetize reactions to “Not Like Us” without enforcing copyright claims. He claims this lack of enforcement enabled the spread of defamatory… pic.twitter.com/FZzip1QrTf
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) January 15, 2025
The content creators named in the document include Kai Cenat, NoLifeShaq, RDC Gaming, and Cartier Family. Other creators like Imane “Pokimane” Anys, Ludwig Ahgren, and Felix “xQc” Lengyel also reacted to the song but were excluded. On page 6 of 81 in the document, Drake alleged:
“UMG took the unprecedented step—contrary to its internal practices—to remove the Recording’s copyright restrictions on YouTube and Twitch, thereby “whitelisting” the Recording to ensure content creators would republish it broadly.”
UMG did not respond to the allegations. The publisher will present its defence at the next hearing date at the New York District Court.
The Kendrick Lamar Feud Explained
Kendrick and Drake’s feud went viral in 2024, but the feud started in the early 2010s through songs like Buried Alive Interlude and Poetic Justice. At the time, Lamar claimed that the feud was just “friendly competition,” and both artists denied allegations of a feud for years.
In 2021, artist J. Cole released his song First Person Shooter, claiming that Drake, Kendrick, and Cole are the big three artists in the rap industry. Lamar responded to Cole through his song Like That, where he said:
“Motherf**k the big three, n*gga, it’s just big me.”
Drake released Taylor Made Freestyle in April 2024 to respond to Kendrick, and it escalated the feud. Both artists released multiple songs in 2024 to diss each other, with Kendrick making accusations of p*dophilia. Drake appeared on xQc’s stream on November 25, 2024, to respond to the allegations and said:
“You need facts to take me out, fairy tales won’t do it.”
Drake: “You need facts to take me out, fairy tales won’t do it”
— King Jared (@certifiedjared) November 25, 2024
pic.twitter.com/aut2LBiP0Y
The artist filed lawsuits against Universal Music Group alleging that the publisher used “illegal tactics” to inflate the popularity of Kendrick’s song Not Like Us.
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