Drake Drops Lawsuit Against Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us

Drake dropped a lawsuit against Universal Music and Spotify in which he accused the companies of conspiring to boost streams of Kendrick Lamar’s diss song Not Like Us.

The Canadian Star took action last Novemberclaiming that music companies used bots, payola and other methods to promote Lamar’s song accusing him of pedophilia.

“Not Like Us’ record-breaking distribution in streaming, sales and radio play was intentional and appears to have relied on irregular and inappropriate business practices,” court documents allege.

However, on Tuesday, Drake’s lawyers voluntarily withdrew a preliminary complaint, effectively ending the case.

According to court documents filed in New York, the star met with representatives from Spotify and Universal on Tuesday to discuss the case.

Spotify, which had filed an opposition, had no objection to the withdrawal and termination. Universal, which had not filed an opposition, maintained its position.

A related casefiled against Universal and the iHeartRadio radio network in Texas is still active.

Not Like Us was widely considered the decisive blow in the long-running feud between Drake and Lamar, which dates back to the early 2010s.

In the lyrics, Lamar claims that Drake “likes them young” and accuses him of using other, more credible rappers to boost his profile.

About 24 hours later, Drake responded with a song called The Heart Part 6, where he denied the allegations, saying, “I’ve never been with anyone underage.” He also claims he gave Lamar “false” information through a double agent.

However, his track failed to garner the same attention as Not Like Us, which debuted at number one on the US chart and attracted more than 1 billion streams on Spotify.

In court, Drake accused Universal – which distributes both his and Lamar’s music – of artificially inflating the song’s numbers.

In court documents, he claims the label licensed the song “at drastically discounted prices to Spotify” and used bots to stream the song, creating “the false impression that the song is more popular than it really is.”

The documents were not a lawsuit, but a “preliminary petition” in which Drake’s lawyers sought access to internal documents at Spotify and Universal that may have supported their case.

In a statement at the time, Universal told the BBC: “The suggestion that (the company) would do anything to undermine any of its artists is insulting and false.

“We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action presentation can disguise the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

Spotify also responded that there was “no economic incentive for users to stream Not Like Us over any of Drake’s songs.”

The Swedish streaming company later filed an opposition to Drake’s petition, saying it “should be rejected.”

Music industry experts were skeptical that the allegations would ever make it to court.

Some have speculated that Drake used the court to press Universal for information that could allow him to potentially sue for breach of contract and back out of his deal.

But entertainment attorney Kevin Cazzini said the proposed legal action could hurt Drake’s reputation more than it helps.

The media coverage “really only serves to draw more attention to lyrics that Drake finds offensive or objectionable,” he told Rolling Stone magazine.

“And I think the number of streams for the song is just going to go up again.”