Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” Faces Botting Allegations as Fans Call Out DSP's

The battle between Drake and Kendrick Lamar continues, but this time, the fight isn't taking place on wax—it’s happening behind the scenes, deep in the infrastructure of streaming services. New allegations have surfaced, suggesting that Lamar’s chart-topping hit Not Like Us has been the beneficiary of artificial boosts, with industry insiders and fans pointing fingers at Spotify for potential interference.

Recent reports and viral posts on X (formerly Twitter) have highlighted troubling discrepancies in how Not Like Us has been performing across platforms compared to other major releases, particularly Drake’s latest project $ome $exy $ongs 4 U. The evidence suggests a systematic effort to prop up Lamar’s record while simultaneously suppressing Drake’s new music, raising serious questions about the transparency and ethics of Spotify’s business practices.

Evidence of Industry Interference Mounts

The first major red flag emerged from Artist.Tools, a platform that tracks Spotify playlist placements and streaming data. According to a screenshot shared widely across social media, Not Like Us has been included in 105 botted playlists, indicating potential inorganic growth. While bot activity is a known issue within the streaming industry, the scale of these placements for Kendrick’s record suggests something more than just standard industry inflation.

Additionally, the platform shows that the song has accumulated over 1.1 billion streams, a staggering number considering its release timeline. While this level of success is not impossible, fans are questioning how an already massively successful record has continued to dominate in ways that feel off—especially when compared to Drake’s latest effort.

Strange Timing: UK Chart Climb Coincides with Drake’s Wireless Festival Announcement

Another major point of contention is how Not Like Us seemingly struggled to hit No. 1 in the UK—until Drake announced he was headlining Wireless Festival. A post from Akademiks TV (@AkademiksTV) on X highlighted fans’ observations, stating:

“Fans point out that Bot Like Us never went #1 in the UK till Drake announced he was headlining Wireless. This is OBVIOUSLY a huge coincidence tho 🤨”

A fan also chimed in:

“So NLU came out last year and never went #1 in the UK till Drake’s Wireless UK show was just announced? Y’all see what’s going on? How are there people out here who think this is normal???”

This sudden spike in chart position, aligning perfectly with Drake’s festival announcement, has led many to suspect that industry forces are working overtime to ensure Kendrick Lamar maintains dominance, even if that means manipulating chart performance.

Spotify’s Role: The Suppression of Drake’s Album

While Not Like Us continues to perform at record-breaking levels, Drake’s new album $ome $exy $ongs 4 U appears to be struggling to even be found—despite its expected blockbuster status. Fans have shared multiple complaints across X and Reddit, with Akademiks TV once again breaking the story on strange platform behaviors.

One user reported:

“Fans are unable to find the Drake album in the Apple iTunes Store despite searching ‘Drake,’ ‘Partynextdoor,’ ‘Drake Partynextdoor,’ ‘$$$’ and ‘$ome $ongs.’”

Another revelation sent shockwaves through social media: Spotify was actively redirecting users who played Drake’s new album to Kendrick Lamar’s past music. Screenshots showed that after listening to tracks from $ome $exy $ongs 4 U, Spotify’s autoplay feature would immediately start playing Kendrick Lamar’s older albums like DAMN., Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, and GNX.

One frustrated fan posted:

“Spotify is literally playing Kendrick immediately after I played a Drake song! @Spotify y’all are f**in’ lame!”*

This sparked further allegations that Spotify’s algorithm may have been deliberately altered to drive listeners away from Drake’s music and towards Kendrick Lamar’s catalog instead. Whether this was done at the request of a label or was an internal decision remains unclear, but the result is undeniable—Drake’s album is struggling to reach its audience while Lamar’s streams continue to climb under increasingly suspicious circumstances.

Industry Manipulation: A History of Shady Tactics

This wouldn’t be the first time that streaming services have been accused of favoring certain artists over others. Jay-Z’s Tidal vs. Apple dispute remains one of the most infamous cases, where Apple allegedly suppressed the promotion of Jay-Z’s album 4:44 due to conflicts of interest with their platform. Only after legal threats did Apple back down.

In Drake’s case, however, the stakes could be even higher. If he manages to expose label-streaming collusion on a large scale, it could become one of the biggest industry scandals in recent history.

A lawyer weighing in on X summarized the implications:

“This isn’t just a flop—it’s looking like industry interference. Fans have reported that searching for the album on Spotify is weirdly difficult. If you can’t find the music easily, you can’t stream it. Simple as that.”

The legal expert continued:

“Apple Music numbers say the complete opposite; the album is performing normally there. But on Spotify? Buried in search, missing from playlists, streams looking off. One platform shows success, the other looks rigged. That’s not a flop; that’s suppression.”

Finally, they warned:

“As much as I love Drake’s music and have been a fan for years, this isn’t just about him. If labels & platforms can manipulate visibility like this, they decide who wins and who vanishes. Letting it slide now means any artist can be next. This is bigger than just one name.”

The Bigger Picture: What’s Next for Drake, Kendrick, and Streaming Transparency?

If these allegations hold weight, it could force a massive reckoning in the music industry. Labels profiting off of manipulated streaming data, platform algorithms favoring certain artists over others, and corporate-driven sabotage of major releases would expose the dark underbelly of how success is truly measured in the modern streaming era.

For Kendrick Lamar, these accusations could tarnish the credibility of Not Like Us’s monumental success. For Drake, this could become yet another battle in his ongoing war against Universal Music Group and industry forces working against him.

At this point, the fans have noticed, industry insiders are speaking out, and the pressure is mounting for transparency. If Spotify and UMG are, in fact, engaging in suppression tactics and artificial boosts, they may have just picked the wrong artist to try it with.

Drake has built a career off of surviving industry sabotage, and if these claims continue to gain traction, this could be the beginning of the biggest streaming fraud scandal we’ve seen yet.

One thing is for sure—this fight is far from over.