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UMG and Drake Are Still Battling it Out

UMG and Drake Are Still Battling it Out

Plus, Lil Wayne says him and Kendrick are all good.

April 18, 2025

Playboi Carti is still playing with our feelings online about his next project ‘BABY BOI.’ In other news:

Song streams & revenue 💰️
Drake’s UMG lawsuit heats up over the Super Bowl 👀
Lil Wayne reveals interesting features for Tha Carter VI 🤔
New Music Friday releases 💿️
Industry Insights 📈

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Songs Streams & Revenue

As reported by Hits Daily Double for the week of March 28 to April 3.

It’s a new week and a new song revenue chart. As reported by Hits Daily Double, which tracks streaming revenue week over week, the above chart reflects the streaming period from March 28 to April 3.

Kendrick Lamar and SZA’s collab, “luther,” is still holding on strong on the chart as Drake’s “NOKIA” is trying (and failing) to take the top spot from the duo. Meanwhile, Lil Tecca’s “Dark Thoughts” is making an appearance on the chart as Doechii’s “Anxiety” works its way up as well.

Drake’s New Complaint Sparks a Warning From UMG

To recap the last episode of Drake Can’t Peacefully Take a L, the rapper scored a legal victory and was granted access to sensitive UMG documents—like Kendrick Lamar’s recording contracts—as part of the discovery process.

Now, on April 16, Drake’s team has officially filed an amended complaint with even more defamatory allegations. Spoiler: UMG isn’t backing down. In fact, they’re telling Drake to “be careful what you wish for,” as discovery goes both ways.

Drake is still pressed about the Super Bowl

In the new filing, Drake’s lawyers dedicated almost 12 pages to crying defamation over Kendrick’s song “Not Like Us” being performed at the Super Bowl. Drake’s team says the performance hit 133 million viewers and was “orchestrated to assassinate” his character.

Ironically, they argue that censoring the word “pedophile” didn’t fix the damage, but rather “solidified the public’s belief in the truth of the allegations.” In other words, it just made people fill in the blank themselves (and then scream “A-minor” into the abyss).

They also claim that the performance sparked renewed hatred for Drake and public belief in the defamatory accusations against him. They cited a wild list of internet accusations, including comparisons to Weinstein, Epstein, and Diddy. One line claims users called for the FBI to investigate Drake, with calls to “lock him up.”

Even wilder? Posters allegedly went up in Toronto of Drake next to disgraced Canadian YouTuber Jack Densmore (who’s now in prison for sexual assault) with the caption: “Canadian sex predators gotta stick together.”

UMG’s alleged motive to devalue Drake

According to the complaint, this is all part of a long game. Drake’s team claims UMG has been plotting since early 2024 to tank his reputation and reduce his leverage ahead of contract negotiations in 2025.

They allegedly understood that the rise of streaming platforms had “enhanced the bargaining power of artists” like Drake and were incentivized to act, launching a defamatory campaign also known as the rap civil war of 2024.

UMG allegedly prioritized re-signing Kendrick, boosting his brand while subtly devaluing Drake’s—because renewing Drake’s deal would be “costly.”

UMG says careful what you wish for

In a succession reminiscent of Drake’s “Family Matters” drop and Kendrick’s “Meet The Grahams” response, UMG released a statement the same day Drake’s team filed their amended complaint. Essentially, they said “Don’t tell no lie about me and I won’t tell truths ‘bout you.”

“Two weeks ago, his representatives celebrated a ‘win’: the granting of a routine discovery motion. That ‘win’ will become a loss if this frivolous and reckless lawsuit is not dropped in its entirety because Drake will personally be subject to discovery as well. As the old saying goes, ‘be careful what you wish for,’” reads the statement.

At this point, this lawsuit is giving Love & Hip-Hop: Court Edition. Meanwhile, Kendrick is probably outside somewhere doing push-ups. Grab your popcorn and refresh your timeline because this saga? Far from over.

Do y’all think this battle will end before 2026?

Click an option below to weigh in

Lil Wayne Speaks on ‘Tha Carter VI’ and Kendrick’s Super Bowl Performance

Lil Wayne has had a year. First, he had to watch Kendrick Lamar live out his Super Bowl dreams from the sidelines. But while K. Dot was center stage, Weezy was back outside with the Hot Boys (AKA Turk, Juvenile, and B.G.), hitting sold-out festivals like Dreamville and reminding everyone where Southern rap got its swagger.

He’s also been keeping himself busy with the long-overdue drop of Tha Carter VI. The rapper sat down with Rolling Stone to talk all about it—and yes, he spilled on the Super Bowl drama, the Kendrick situation, and his new creative lane that includes some…unexpected names.

The feature list you didn’t see coming

Set to drop in June, Tha Carter VI is shaping up to be a genre-jumper’s dream (or nightmare, depending on your tolerance for chaos). The features list includes Miley Cyrus, Billie Eilish, his son Kameron, Ye (potentially), and Wyclef Jean behind the boards.

“If there’s one thing about this album that’s different, it’s me approaching it like, ‘Man, what would I sound like on something with such and such,’” Lil Wayne said.

Speaking of trying new things, he also spoke about recording a sequel to the 2006 collab album he did with Birdman, Like Father, Like Son, but with his own kids Kameron, Dwayne III, and Neal,who are also stepping into hip-hop.

“It’s innate. It’s not surprising at all…I’m a true musician. So it would be shocking if they came up and said they wanted to do pottery,” he said.

Weezy says he didn’t know “Not Like Us” was Kendrick’s song

Despite the drama the internet tried to manifest, Wayne says he and Kendrick are good. So good, in fact, he called him before the big game to say, “break a leg.”

However, here’s where it gets hilarious: Wayne somehow missed the entire Kendrick vs. Drake beef. Like, all of it—the diss tracks, the memes, the thinkpieces (or so he says).

“I’m going to give you the perfect example…I went onstage and I was singing this song [“Not Like Us”], and they thought I was dissing…I ain’t want my dude to be mad at me…I didn’t even know it was Kendrick!” Either Wayne is truly living in his own world, or he’s on a generational run of acting clueless (see another example below).

Even though everything was cool between Wayne and Lamar, he still didn’t watch his Super Bowl performance. “Every time I looked, it was nothing that made me want to go inside and see what was going on,” he said.

Now, if given the opportunity, Wayne wouldn’t take the Super Bowl performance slot. “They stole that feeling. I don’t want to do it. It was perfect,” he said.

Are y’all excited for 'Tha Carter 6'?