This summer, a significant rift between rappers Drake and Kendrick Lamar escalated beyond the airwaves and found its way into the legal arena. Drake, in a court filing on Monday, alleged that Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify were involved in deceptive practices to artificially inflate Lamar's summer hit "Not Like Us." The two had already released several diss tracks targeting each other this summer, with "Not Like Us" enjoying a multi-week stay at the top of Billboard's Hot 100.

Alleged Deceptive Practices by UMG and Spotify

Drake's company, Frozen Moments, LLC, initiated legal action by filing a petition in New York Supreme Court. The petition claimed that UMG launched a campaign to manipulate streaming services and airwaves with "Not Like Us" to make it go viral. Spotify declined to comment on Tuesday, and UMG did not immediately respond to NBC News' request for comment.The filing alleged that UMG charged Spotify lower licensing rates for "Not Like Us" in exchange for recommending the song to users searching for other unrelated songs and artists. UMG was also accused of conspiring with and paying unknown parties to use "bots" to play the song and boost its popularity. Additionally, there was an alleged financial agreement with Apple to have its digital assistant "Siri" direct users to "Not Like Us" when they asked for Drake's album "Certified Loverboy." The song contains a lyric that is an allegation against Drake.UMG was also said to be engaging in pay-to-play schemes, or payola. It was alleged that a UMG employee made payments to an independent radio promoter who then transferred those payments to radio stations or employees to play "Not Like Us" without disclosing the payments. The petition did not disclose the details of the payment or the radio station involved.

Economic Harm to Drake

The petition stated that these alleged schemes were motivated by the desire of UMG executives to maximize their profits. As a result, Drake, who owns the copyright to his entire catalogue, suffered economic harm. Both Drake and Lamar are signed to UMG under different divisions, with Drake under Republic Records and Lamar under Interscope.Drake tried to engage UMG in discussions to resolve the harm he had suffered, but UMG refused to negotiate and insisted that it was not responsible for its actions. Instead, UMG "pointed the finger" at Lamar and insisted that Drake should initiate legal action against him rather than the company. The filing also claimed that UMG terminated employees who were loyal to Drake.

UMG's Response and Spotify's Practices

Universal Music Group told NBC News that the suggestion that it would undermine its artists is offensive and untrue. It claimed to employ the highest ethical practices in its marketing and promotional campaigns.Separately, Spotify says it has practices in place to prevent, detect, and mitigate artificial streaming.Social media erupted with memes and jokes following the news of the petition. Some users made derogatory comments about Drake, with one saying, "Drake realizing that he could just sue his way out of his problems instead of facing them like a man," and another adding, "Drake is the first rapper to ever run to court after losing a rap battle."The hit "Not Like Us" has over 900 million streams on Spotify and holds records for the biggest single day streams of a hip hop song and the most streamed "diss track" in Spotify history.