Drake withdraws lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar’s alleged diss track 'Not Like Us'
Canadian rapper had alleged Universal Music Group and Spotify manipulated the popularity of Lamar's diss track "Not Like Us".
Drake has withdrawn his petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify after accusing the entities of artificially inflated the popularity of a Kendrick Lamar diss track about him.
UMG and Spotify were accused of trying to "manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves". Lawyers for the rapper had claimed that UMG paid influencers and radio stations to play the track, Not Like Us. A song which topped the US charts and proved to be the hammer blow in the Drake-Lamar feud between March and May last year.
Drake accused UMG and Spotify of overplaying Lamar diss track
According to Rolling Stone, in a New York filling on Tuesday obtained by the media, Drake's company Frozen Moments voluntarily withdrew his pre-actions fillings against UMG and Spotify , which included an "Order to Show Cause seeking pre-action disclosure and preservation of certain documents and communications" from UMG and "pre-actions disclosure of certain documents and communications" from Spotify.
In November, Drake’s legal team filed two motions expressing their intent to investigate whether UMG collaborated with Spotify and iHeartRadio to artificially enhance the popularity of Lamar’s diss track targeting Drake. The filings also alleged, based on "information and belief," that bots and other forms of payola were used to inflate the song’s streaming numbers. Additionally, they accused Universal of being complicit in “defamation” by promoting a song that labeled Drake as a “certified pedophile.”
The Canadian rapper, according to New York documents seen by Variety, has now withdrawn that request, with the document reading: "Petitioner hereby voluntarily discontinues this special proceeding as to all respondents without cost to any party".
The releasing of "Not Like Us", Lamar was called winner of the feud between Drake. Photo: Rolling Stone.
The beginning of Drake-Lamar's Feud
The feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar is one of hip-hop’s most talked-about rivalries, fueled by lyrical jabs, competitive spirit, and underlying tensions about authenticity and dominance in the rap industry.
It all began when Lamar delivered a now-iconic verse on Big Sean’s 2013 track Control. In his verse, Lamar called out several rappers by name, including Drake, challenging them to step up their lyrical game and claiming he wanted to be the “king” of the rap scene.
While Lamar’s verse was widely praised for its boldness, it didn’t sit well with Drake. In interviews following the release of Control, Drake downplayed the verse, dismissing it as a publicity stunt. Lamar, however, continued to assert his dominance subtly through lyrics, fueling speculation that the rivalry had escalated behind the scenes.
After a series of diss tracks exchanged between the two rappers, Lamar was widely regarded as the victor. His track Not Like Us, which accused Drake of being a “colonizer” exploiting the hip-hop culture, achieved record-breaking single-day and week-long streams for a rap song on Spotify.
Since the feud, Drake has released only a limited amount of music, including four tracks in August, collaborations on Camila Cabello’s album, and a feature with Mexican-American group Fuerza Regida. However, earlier this month, he returned to solo material with the freestyle Fighting Irish, reflecting on the feud with Lamar and the friendships lost because of it.
“The world fell in love with the gimmicks, even my brothers got tickets / Seemed like they loved every minute / Just know this shit is personal to us, and it wasn’t just business … I was sadly mistaken, the loyalty wasn’t a given,” Drake rapped. He also addressed Lamar’s “colonizer” accusation, rapping, “I’m starin’ at my daddy” in reference to his African American father.