ADRIAN MA, HOST:
An ongoing beef between two of the world's most famous rappers has taken an unusual turn from recording studio to courthouse. Now, if you don't know the players in said beef, they are Drake and Kendrick Lamar. And what happened was, this week, lawyers for Drake made a series of court filings claiming that Universal Music Group artificially boosted listenership for Kendrick Lamar's viral dis track about Drake called "Not Like Us."
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "NOT LIKE US")
KENDRICK LAMAR: (Rapping) They not like us. They not like us. They not like us. They not like us. They not like us. They not like us.
MA: Now, interestingly, Universal distributes both artists' music. And Drake also claims that Universal defamed him by boosting the song "Not Like Us" because in it, Kendrick refers to Drake as a pedophile. So messy gets messier, and to talk more about this rap battle that keeps on giving, we're joined now by Andre Gee. He's a staff writer for Rolling Stone Magazine. Thanks for being here, Andre.
ANDRE GEE: Thanks for having me.
MA: So Andre, Drake has generated a lot of buzz with this legal maneuver. Can you break down - what is he claiming here?
GEE: Sure. So for me, I feel like there's a line in the second filing that kind of crystallizes what he's alleging. And the line is, the record-shattering spread of "Not Like Us" on streaming, sales and radio play was deliberate and appears to have relied upon irregular and inappropriate business practices. So essentially, he's accusing UMG, which is the parent company of Republic Records, his record label - he's accusing them of payola and artificial inflation.
Now, payola - that's the practice of paying a radio conglomerate, paying a streaming service, paying any service that can stream your content - paying them under the table to play your record more than they ordinarily would because they've been - they're being illegally paid to do so. And so that's what he's accusing of Spotify and iHeartRadio.
Now, the distinction in these suits is in New York, he's petitioning for access to information from UMG as it pertains to their dealings with Spotify, their streaming service, 'cause he's alleging that UMG license "Not Like Us," the Kendrick dis, to Spotify at a 30% discount in exchange for boosting the songs on streaming on Spotify.
MA: I see. So the claim is that Universal kind of forewent some royalties it could have gotten in exchange for getting that song more play on Spotify.
GEE: Yes. He's claiming that on both of these fronts, UMG was colluding with these conglomerates to artificially inflate "Not Like Us."
MA: Interesting. OK, so how has Universal Music Group responded to this?
GEE: Well, after the first filing, that afternoon, just about an hour later or so, or a couple of hours later - they came right out and just essentially called BS in the most professional terms possible.
MA: (Laughter).
GEE: They're like, yeah, we're not in the interest of undermining our artists. For one, we do not engage in payola. That's their claim, anyway. Yeah, they essentially just said, all of these claims are false. As it is, I don't think I've seen a response to the second filing, but I assume that applies to whatever Drake is filing in regards to this - these claims.
MA: In your reporting, you speak to some entertainment attorneys about these legal filings. What did they tell you about the merits of his claims?
GEE: Yeah, essentially, they told me they just had no read on why he was making these filings. The payola claim is very hard to track. I mean, to be able to prove that is going to be very difficult. And then the second part of the claim, defamation, is just very, very difficult to prove. That's what they inform me. You know, this is a beef that went two ways, so U levied some pretty heavy allegations as well. So it just goes two ways. So overall, the entertainment lawyers just inform me that it would be very far-fetched to see this actually go to a lawsuit. That was their read on it.
MA: So these legal actions - they come after months of a high-profile rap battle between Kendrick and Drake. Both artists have put out dis tracks about each other. And, you know, you talk about the significance of, like, beef in rap culture. A lot of it is about reputation and legacy. How do you think this latest turn in the battle changes the way people are perceiving these artists?
GEE: Yeah, I mean, from Drake's perspective, it's just overall a bad look. It's just - in a way, it kind of speaks to the things that Kendrick was getting at on "Not Like Us" and some of the other records, in terms of just accusing Drake of being a bit of, like, a cultural interloper who wants to operate in his way, inconsiderate of the norms and traditions of hip-hop. But then, you know, once you feel pressured, then you get litigious, and that's just, like, not something you do.
Like, if you're playing a video game and you press pause, you have a set of options in the game. You have resume game. You have settings. You have camera mode. You have quit game. Those are your options. If you are a rapper in a rap beef, you have, OK, release the next song. Do an interview about the beef. Quit the beef. You're, like - you don't have sue. That's, like, not...
MA: (Laughter).
GEE: ...One of the options.
MA: That's not in...
GEE: And he...
MA: ...The menu.
GEE: It's not in the menu, and he tried to create a new option in the menu. And that's why people are just, like, mystified at where he's going with this.
MA: So what are you going to be paying attention to as far as this Kendrick-Drake saga continuing?
GEE: Well, I thought it was mostly over with, honestly.
MA: (Laughter).
GEE: For me, with these filings, I just want to see if they actually go anywhere. From the Kendrick and Drake aspect, maybe the next juncture to look towards is the Super Bowl, where Kendrick will be performing. And it seems likely that he'll - I mean, I don't know how much of that song he's going to be able to perform on network television, with some of those lyrics, but I'm sure he'll cue to it in some fashion. And so we'll see if Drake wants to get litigious again about that. So that's what I would be looking at next.
MA: Ooh. Stay tuned. We've been speaking with Andre Gee, staff writer at Rolling Stone Magazine. Thanks so much, Andre.
GEE: Yeah, thanks again for having me. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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