Here’s How Fans Are Reacting to Drake’s Claims That UMG & Spotify Schemed to Inflate ‘Not Like Us’
Drake shocked the music industry on Monday (Nov. 25) when he accused his label, Univeral Music Group, and Spotify in a court filing of artificially inflating the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC alleges in the filing that the two parties conducted an “illegal scheme” that involved paid bots and other methods to “pump up” Lamar’s track that viciously disses him and accuses him of pedophilia, among other claims. UMG has denied the allegations, calling them “offensive and untrue” in a statement to Billboard. (Spotify declined to comment.)
The legal procedure — and the second action against UMG that Drake filed Tuesday (Nov. 26) — essentially reignited the flame for the Kendrick and Drake beef, as fans continued to bicker back and forth on social media over his legal maneuvers. “Drake Stan’s acting like Drake suing in order to fight the good fight against capitalism is soooooo funny bro LMFAOOOOOOO,” one person tweeted.
7PM in Brooklyn co-host Kazeem Famuyide took a different approach while examining the industry as a whole. “Kendrick: F the whole industry. Drake: F the whole industry. Cole: F the whole industry. Fans: actually, I’m on the industry’s side here,” he added.
No Jumper‘s Adam22 agreed this could have major implications on the music industry. “Anyone acting like Drake is just a bad loser hasn’t read this s–t yet,” he tweeted. “If half of this gets proven, Drake will look like a hero for exposing the corrupt music industry.”
Former NFL star Arian Foster took a different approach and jokingly compared Drake’s legal action to this being his version of the Jan. 6 Capitol insurrection.
“One thing that’s funny to me about Drake suing his label is I’ve never seen so many fans be on the label’s side before lmao,” another fan chimed in. “This the first time where the artist isn’t automatically right to the public.”
In its statement to Billboard, UMG noted: “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.”
Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” proved to be the knockout blow in his feud with Drake, and has remained a cultural staple as one of the biggest songs of the year. The Mustard-produced diss track topped the Billboard Hot 100 for a pair of weeks and hasn’t departed from the top 20 since its arrival in May.
Find more fan reactions to Drake’s legal actions below.
Michael Saponara
Billboard
