Drake is currently suing Universal Music Group (UMG) over Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us." Last month, it was reported that he had set his sights on Kojo Menne Asamoah. The Toronto artist alleges that Asamoah played a major role in artificially inflating the success of the hit diss track. More specifically, he suspects that he allegedly coordinated secret payments on behalf of UMG executive Ramon Alvarez-Smikle.
Reportedly, his team spent $75K trying to serve him over a dozen times, even enlisting the help of two private investigation firms. He had been unsuccessful until last week, when his motion to subpoena him through alternative methods was granted.
According to XXL, his team served Asamoah by mail at five different addresses on August 7. Per the outlet, Asamoah must "produce documents, information, or objects or to permit inspection of premises" in relation to the alleged botting tactics as part of the subpoena.
Drake UMG Lawsuit
"Plaintiff alleges that Mr. Asamoah 'possesses knowledge relating to UMG’s use of covert tactics to promote the Defamatory Material, including because Plaintiff believes that Mr. Asamoah was involved in directing payments and/or financial incentives from UMG to third parties involved in online botting for the purpose of artificially inflating the streaming numbers of the Recording,'" the filing reads.
Asamoah is one of many individuals who Drake's team wants to testify in the case. The rapper submitted a lengthy list of potential witnesses last month, which features several high-profile names. This includes UMG CEO Sir Lucian Grainge, former Top Dawg Entertainment president Dave Free, Kendrick's manager Anthony Saleh, Interscope CEO John Janickl, and many more.
UMG's witness list, on the other hand, is only nine names long. It also features both Kendrick and Drake. "Lamar is likely to have discoverable information concerning the creation of the recording, image, and video, and the distribution and promotion of the recording and video,” the company alleges in court documents.
