Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” has hit a billion streams on Spotify, making it the first diss track to reach this milestone. Released in May 2024, the track has also been named Top Rap Song of 2024, the best-selling song of the year, and Apple Music’s most-streamed track. It achieved the billion-stream milestone in record time, with 1,002,438,426 streams as of now.
The song has drawn further attention due to legal filings by Drake against Universal Music Group (UMG). Drake has accused UMG, the parent company of his label Republic and Kendrick’s label Interscope, of using bots and payola to artificially boost the track’s popularity. He also claims UMG defamed him by releasing a song that falsely accuses him of being a pedophile.
Since Drake filed these petitions last November, sales of “Not Like Us” have increased by 440%, with streams rising by 20%, according to Talk of the Charts. His legal filings, which are “pre-action” petitions, aim to gather information for potential lawsuits but do not commit him to suing.
One filing alleges that UMG used fraudulent practices to promote the track and seeks discovery to explore potential violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, New York’s Deceptive Business Act, and False Advertising Act. Another filing accuses UMG of defamation and questions payments allegedly funneled to iHeartMedia to promote the song.
UMG has strongly denied the accusations, stating, “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.”
