"The Hip-Hop equivalent of asking to speak with a manager"— CNN shades Drake over 'whining' Kendrick Lamar lawsuit

Drake’s legal action against Kendrick Lamar’s song, Not Like Us, has been garnering a lot of attention from the masses. The matter was also recently discussed on CNN, where a journalist called it “whining,” as he spoke to a guest panelist on the show.

The show aired on December 2, 2024, when the anchor discussed the lawsuit filed against Universal Music Group and opined that Drizzy was being a little oversensitive on the issue as the song gained massive popularity. He said:

"This may be the hip-hop equivalent of asking to speak with a manager."

The journalist then asked music journalist Sowmya Krishnamurthy if she thinks that “Drake is whining,” in her opinion. Sowmya responded by saying:

“This is definitely a case of whining. You know, when you look at the origins of hip-hop, the competitive spirit is so high. And the biggest rap battles we have ever seen in our lifetime. Who would have thought it would have ended in a courtroom.”

For the unversed, the One Dance singer filed a petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify as he and his legal team alleged that the two companies worked together to promote Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, Not Like Us.

Details about Drake’s petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify explored

On November 25, 2024, Drizzy filed a petition in the New York Supreme Court, accusing Universal Music Group and Spotify of collaborating to promote Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, Not Like Us. He claimed that their actions deliberately sidelined his music to boost Kendrick’s streams.

Drake also alleged that Universal Music Group used AI tools and bots to inflate Kendrick’s listener count on Spotify and radio stations. This approach, he argued, helped the song break records and reach the top spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

The petition stated:

“UMG … conspired with and paid currently unknown parties to use ‘bots’ to artificially inflate the spread of Not Like Us and deceive consumers into believing the song was more popular than it was in reality.”

The petition further stated that Universal Music Group and Spotify ran a campaign to dominate streaming platforms and paid influencers to advertise the track on social media. The Canadian rapper also accused Apple Music and claimed that Siri redirected the users to Not Like Us on a lot of requests by users for his songs.

Following this, Drake filed another petition against Universal Music Group (UMG), accusing them of defaming him by allegedly implying he was a "s*x offender" in the song. UMG, however, denied the claims, stating that they "adhere to the highest ethical standards in all our marketing and promotional activities."

The Universal Music Group stated:

“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. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

Kendrick Lamar released Not Like Us in May 2024, during a reignited rap war between him and Drake. The song has been produced by Mustard and has been written by K.Dot. The song became an instant hit and topped many charts globally.

​