Drake has scored a minor win over Kendrick Lamar when it comes to year-end listener statistics: he’s the victor when it comes to Spotify.
On Wednesday (December 4), Spotify announced its most-streamed artists globally for the year as part of its Spotify Wrapped campaign. Drizzy was the highest-ranking rapper on the list.
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He was fourth overall, behind Taylor Swift, The Weeknd and Bad Bunny. The other rappers in the top 10 were Travis Scott (no. 6) and Kanye West (no. 8).
Drake was also the service’s most-streamed rapper in the U.S., and second overall behind Swift. Kendrick was seventh on that list, behind Swift, Drake, Zach Bryan, Morgan Wallen, Kanye and Future.
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When it comes to Apple Music, Kendrick had a notable upper hand, as his Drake diss “Not Like Us” was the most-played track of the year worldwide.
The streaming service made the announcement on Tuesday (November 3), as it rolled out its “Top Songs of 2024: Global” playlist. Shaboozey‘s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” was fourth, while Post Malone‘s duet with Morgan Wallen, “I Had Some Help,” was in the number six slot.
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Kendrick actually appeared in the top 10 for a second time, via his beef-starting feature on Future and Metro Boomin‘s “Like That” (no. 8).
“Not Like Us” actually received even more attention in recent days following Drake’s bombshell legal filings against Universal Music Group.
The chart-topping diss song is at the heart of the dispute, with Drizzy accusing UMG of artifically boosting the track’s popularity through the use of streaming bots and payola.
He has also claimed that UMG — the parent company of his label Republic and Kendrick’s longtime home of Interscope — defamed him by knowlingly releasing a song that accuses him of being a pedophile.
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Since he filed the petitions on November 25, sales of “Not Like Us” have increased by a staggering 440 percent, while streams of the song have jumped by 20 percent, according to Talk of the Charts.
“Not Like Us” has also zoomed back up the charts of both Apple Music and Spotify, enjoying a 16-place climb on the latter’s Global chart.
