Drake’s recent lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) has taken an unexpected turn, with his legal actions seemingly boosting Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, Not Like Us. The lawsuit, which accused UMG of manipulating the popularity of Kendrick’s track through artificial streaming practices, has inadvertently caused a spike in its success. Since the filing on November 25th, the song has seen a 44% increase in sales and a 20% rise in streams across major platforms like Apple Music and Spotify.
This outcome has led industry insiders to question whether Drake’s legal battle is doing more harm than good. By drawing attention to Kendrick’s song, the lawsuit has only amplified its presence, causing a surge in interest. This phenomenon is often referred to as the Streisand Effect, where attempts to suppress something only lead to it becoming more popular. Entertainment lawyer Kevin Cassini pointed out that the lawsuit might lead to even more streams for Not Like Us, which is the exact opposite of what Drake intended.
The situation highlights an important truth about the modern media landscape—attention can often backfire. In today’s world, drawing attention to something usually elevates it, rather than silencing it. Fans and listeners have already heard Kendrick Lamar’s diss track, and instead of ignoring it, the controversy surrounding Drake’s legal action has only caused more people to seek it out. In fact, it has led to a kind of public support for Kendrick Lamar, with many fans siding against Drake for involving lawyers instead of responding in the traditional hip-hop way—through music.
Hip-hop feuds have long been settled through lyrical battles, as seen in past rivalries between artists like Jay-Z and Nas or LL Cool J and Cannabis. The expectation is that an artist will respond to a diss track with their own bars, not legal threats. Drake’s decision to use the courtroom to settle this conflict has set him apart from this tradition, and many fans feel that he should be fighting back with his own music, not lawyers.
With the Super Bowl approaching and more eyes on this feud, Drake has two options: either he can release a response track to counter Kendrick’s Not Like Us, proving that he still has the lyrical skills to compete, or he can admit that Kendrick has gotten the upper hand. Either way, it’s clear that his legal strategy has only drawn more attention to Kendrick’s work, and it may have backfired in the end.
In the world of hip-hop, where attention is key, Drake’s legal actions might have turned out to be a misstep. The only way for him to truly reclaim control of the situation could be through music—showing his fans that he can still go toe-to-toe with Kendrick on the mic.
