Drake alleges Universal falsely inflated popularity of Kendrick Lamar diss track 'Not Like Us'

Drake alleged in a court filing Monday that Universal Music Group falsely pumped up the popularity on Spotify and other streaming services of Kendrick Lamar's “Not Like Us," a song that viciously attacked Drake amid a bitter feud between the two hip-hop superstars.

The petition in a New York court by the rapper's company Frozen Moments LLC demands the preservation and divulgence of information that might be evidence in a potential lawsuit against UMG, which is the distributor for the record labels of both Drake and Lamar.

In allegations that UMG calls “offensive and untrue,” the filing says the record company “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, ‘Not Like Us,’ in order to make that song go viral, including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.” It said the company and Spotify “have a long-standing, symbiotic business relationship” and alleges that UMG offered special licensing rates to Spotify for the song.

The petition also says UMG has fired employees seen as loyal to Drake "in an apparent effort to conceal its schemes."