"Money is power. Power is money, right?" — Tony Yayo supports Drake's decision to take legal action against UMG

On Monday, December 23, rapper Tony Yayo weighed in on Drake's decision to sue UMG and Spotify in a Vlad TV podcast. Yayo was asked by DJ Vlad what he thought about the One Dance rapper suing Lamar after losing a rap battle to him. Defending Drizzy's decision, Yayo said:

"He might have his reasons. He might have the lawyers, he might have the information. Money is power. Power is money, right? He must know something."

Elsewhere on the podcast, Tony also added that "the p*dophile sh*t" that Kendrick said about Drake in his diss tracks Meet the Grahams and Not Like Us might've gotten to him.

When DJ Vlad asked Yayo to imagine if Ja Rule had sued G-Unit - a hip-hop group formed by him, 50 Cent, and Lloyd Banks - Yayo said Ja Rule wasn't anywhere as big as Drake was, which is why the two situations weren't comparable.

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Drake sued UMG and Spotify for defamation

Yayo is just one of the musicians to offer their opinions on Drake filing a petition against the Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify on November 25.

In the petition filed in the New York Supreme Court, the Portland rapper accused the defendants of launching a campaign to manipulate the streaming services and airwaves in order to make Lamar's Not Like Us more popular, The Guardian reported.

Drizzy's lawyers wrote in the petition letter:

"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 Passionfruit rapper also alleged that UMG had paid social media influencers to promote Not Like Us, and set up pay-to-play agreements with radio stations.

A day later, on November 26, Drake filed another legal action against UMG in Texas, accusing them of defamation, claiming that the company distributed K-Dot's song despite knowing that it falsely accused him of p*dophilia.

Per the petition, the company could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed. But UMG chose to do the opposite.

"UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn Not Like Us into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations.”

Drake's attorneys claimed to have enough evidence to prove the Uptown rapper's defamation by UMG and were considering allegations of civil fraud and racketeering.

The petition also alleges that UMG sold Lamar's Not Like Us to Spotify at a lower licensing rate on the condition that the streamer would recommend the track to all its users, whether or not they search for it.

Their claim is that the company also paid Apple to make Siri "purposely misdirect" users who asked to listen to Drake songs to stream Not Like Us instead.

UMG's alleged scheme in turn led Not Like Us to be streamed over 900 million times on Spotify, making it the most-streamed diss track in the history of the streaming platform. Currently, the Lamar track holds the record for the biggest single-day streams for a hip-hop song - 12.8 million - and the most songs streamed in a week by a rapper - 81.2 million.

Per the Fancy rapper's attorneys, UMG’s schemes "were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope to maximize their own profits.”

When UMG was reached out for a comment on the petition, the company told The Guardian that any claim about them trying to undermine their artists was "offensive and untrue" adding:

"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."

Spotify was also approached for a comment, but it declined at the time.

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On December 10, Hot97 reported that Drake was given a court date for a hearing in the New York Supreme Court on January 16, 2025.

The hearing will address his petition to compel Spotify and UMG to preserve all critical documents and communications related to Not Like Us.