Drake’s Lawsuit Backfires, 450 million Stream Record. If Kendrick’s Were Fake, How Are Drake’s Real?

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:01]Welcome back, guys. Welcome back. It's your boy Del Rey Richardson, Platinum Artist, Platinum Songwriter, Straight Game TV. I thank you for tuning in. I appreciate your time. Do me a favor, click on the thumbs up button. Also, subscribe to the channel. Like always say, if you want to be one of the first people notified when I drop some of the Straight Game, please do me a favor and click on what appears to be that little bell notification right below this video. I'mma get right into it.

[00:00:24]Ladies and gentlemen, now they're reporting that Drake has over 450 million uh streams in regards to his uh album Iceman.

[00:00:41]And the question is, the real question is, because after all we've heard um with the legal stuff, all we heard with the publicity, all we heard with everything that's been said thus far, is are those 450 million streams real?

[00:00:58]That's the question that needs to be answered. Are those 450 stream uh 50 million streams real?

[00:01:06]Right?

[00:01:06]Um did Drake actually trap himself in his own legal argument?

[00:01:14]Because now, you know, the fans and everybody, you know, the the spectators in hip-hop are asking um a very uncomfortable question. And that question is, if Drake claimed Kendrick Lamar's streams were allegedly manipulated, then how are Drake's own 450 million streams in 1 week automatically real?

[00:01:36]Right?

[00:01:38]That's the debate taking over hip-hop right now. That's the debate um when we're talking about people having these hit records and and, you know, what quantifies a hit record now.

[00:01:49]Um is it streams that we don't know how they're calculated, tabulated, or anything of that nature? So, Kendrick Lamar streams for just one song, right? Not like us.

[00:02:05]We manipulated, right? The question is, then how Drake's own allegedly 450 million now, first it was 250, then they offered a retraction.

[00:02:17]But how is now this 450 million streams uh in one week automatically real? That's the question, right? Drake's legal filings we know opened the door for allegations and and speculation far beyond what I think he anticipated when he talked about the bots that they were using allegedly that Spotify and Universal was using, playlist manipulation, algorithm boosting, artificial promotion, and industry-assisted streaming inflation connected to Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us.

[00:02:51]This is these are all of the things that were were talked about.

[00:02:55]And so, when you understand that and you understand what it is that that means, we have a very very serious situation on our hands, if you will. Um you know, but now Drake his new project is what? Reportedly pulls in around 450 million streams in a week.

[00:03:17]And and suddenly everybody's asking, are those streams organic?

[00:03:22]Are streaming numbers even trustworthy anymore?

[00:03:27]And how much money would 450 million streams actually generate?

[00:03:33]Um like I said today, you know, we going to break down the contradictions, the business, the algorithms, the legal arguments, and and and possible that the possibility that the streaming era may be built more on perception than reality. Like I said, that the streaming uh uh era may be based more on perception than actual reality. Uh this is bigger than Drake versus Kendrick Lamar. This is about whether fans can trust the music industry at all. Let's talk about it. Um like I said, his legal argument basically changed everything. You know, like I said, um you when you establish what happened, Drake's legal filings accuse Universal Music and Spotify of allegedly helping inflate the success of Kendrick Lamar's diss record Not Like Us. Just one record. We're talking about from what we understand, Drake dropped three records, if you will, right?

[00:04:27]Uh the filings the filings referenced alleged bad activity manipulating streaming, uh discounted licensing deals, meaning they discount what they license and how they license to who they want to based on a preferential treatment, uh this uh uh with algorithmic promotions, the algorithm pushing uh you know, Kendrick's stuff more than it's pushing other people's, and a pay-for-play tactics. That's what Drake Pay-for-Play.

[00:04:55]Meaning basically payola, right? And you know, an an important disclaimer, uh let's be fair, uh these were allegations. Uh no court ruled um Kendrick Lamar's streams were fake.

[00:05:08]Universal Music Group uh uh denied wrongdoing. Spotify denied wrongdoing.

[00:05:13]Uh but, here's the problem. Once Drake publicly argued that streaming numbers can be uh allegedly manipulated, uh he changed how fans view all streaming numbers, especially his own at this particular time, right?

[00:05:28]Um the internet's response basically um to um you know, what about Drake's uh uh you know, his his um response to the uh 450 First, it was 250 million, and then offered they said they got that wrong.

[00:05:46]And now they're saying, "Hey, you know, um it's 450 million."

[00:05:51]Once again, ladies and gentlemen, we don't know.

[00:05:56]We don't know.

[00:05:57]And so, um the real question is, I think, um when we talk about it from a larger, uh, perspective is, can we trust anything that's being said or anything that's being alleged involving this situation?

[00:06:13]Um you had, uh, uh, Rick Ross come out and talk about how his, um, how his, um, how Drake singing and and talking about, you know, personally about who Drake was as a person and his singing and the and the the the alleged altercation that they had had. But, that still does not, um, take away the fact that we're still talking about these 450 million streams.

[00:06:42]And what does that really, truly, honestly mean? How much money is that when it comes down to, um, the real the real streaming numbers, right?

[00:06:52]And so, um Snoop had talked about, um, uh, the situation involving streams and how artists were being paid, um, and and who actually gets the money.

[00:07:06]And when you think about 450 million streams, you know, how much they're really, you know, honestly worth.

[00:07:12]And it's like, well, when you break it down, you say, "Well, are the streams engineered or are they real?

[00:07:20]Who sees the money first, right?"

[00:07:23]You know, um you know, and and so And here, the scariest part, like I said, when I talk about this, the scariest part, if listen, if the labels can influence discovery systems, then streaming numbers may not fully represent public demand anymore. Think about that.

[00:07:44]If the label can influence discovery systems, right? Then streaming numbers may not fully represent a a public demand anymore. That changes everything, y'all.

[00:07:55]It changes everything.

[00:07:57]You know, um so if it's real like, you know, he's telling us this and, you know, to create this, you know, illusion of popularity or or illusion of relevance. And like I said, you know, Drake does sold out shows and stuff like that, but that still doesn't negate the fact that, you know, he attacked his own label. He attacked the people that he attacked Spotify, right?

[00:08:21]Now let's talk about the money aspect of it.

[00:08:25]Fans, you know, you know, the public we hear 450 million streams and think the artist must have made, you know, tens of millions. But, you know, streaming doesn't work like that. You know, when you think about a stream calculation, you say Spotify reportedly pays somewhere around 0.003 to 0.005 [snorts] per stream on average. So let's do the math, right? At the lower estimate, 450 million streams times 0.003 equals 1.35 million dollars. That's 1 million 350,000 dollars.

[00:09:04]And and at a higher estimate, 450 million streams times 0. 005 equal 2.25 million dollars, meaning 2 million 250,000 dollars.

[00:09:19]So the gross revenue from 450 million streams could uh could be roughly 1.35 to 2.25 million dollars. And that's before the splits, before, you know, they you know, they split with the artist, you know, and everybody else and everything that gets accounted for before the artist gets their money, right? And so you ask, well, well, who gets the money?

[00:09:44]You know, now here's where, you know, most people don't understand, and they get shocked at at the numbers and how the artist get paid. So all of this hoopla as to, you know, the streams, what does it really mean overall? The money doesn't just go straight to the artist. It gets divided between the labels, the publishers, the producers, the writers, the managers, the lawyers, distributors, taxes, and recoupments, right?

[00:10:10]So depending on the artist deal, remember I told you, depending on the artist contract.

[00:10:15]Right? You You see a lot of artists that are successful that have bum contracts because it benefits the label more than it benefits the artist. Right?

[00:10:23]You know, so like I said, depending on the artist deal, the actual personal income could be dramatically lower than than what we you even or I even may think, right? And like I said, Snoop talked about this.

[00:10:36]And Snoop, you know, his when he talked about it, it kind of hit hard because, you know, the optics of illusion, the optics of success.

[00:10:45]And And Snoop basically challenged the public illusion that giant streaming numbers automatically mean giant artist wealth. And that's simply not true because ownership matters more than streams, whether you own your masters, whether you own your publishing, all of those things. And these are some of the things that I always talk about, right?

[00:11:05]Um like I said, um you know, the Drake accidentally or on purpose, because he was done with it, exposed the whole system, right?

[00:11:17]This may be the biggest irony of the entire situation. By accusing the industry of allegedly manipu- manipulating Kendrick Lamar's numbers, Drake may have Drake may have accidentally violated uh, or should I say validated what independent artists have been saying for years.

[00:11:35]Like it include myself as an independent artist. You know what I mean? Like I say, Drake may have accidentally validated what, you know, we've been saying, you know, for years as independent artists. That the streaming game, uh, may not be fully organic.

[00:11:51]Right? And that now that the the labels and and these big streaming platforms can control the whole narrative with inflated numbers. This is what Drake is saying. You know, and like I said, there's nothing been proven in court, but there may be some truth to that. Or may not be, right? That algorithmic algorithms uh, may shape culture. Uh, that labels may influence visibility.

[00:12:14]And that uh, the fans uh, may be uh, reacting to numbers that were engineered to look bigger.

[00:12:22]You know, oh, he did Well, you know, you know, you hear people online talking about it right now. Oh, Drake did this many numbers this week. You know, they don't really know. They have no idea.

[00:12:32]Right? And so like I said, um, and and now again, that does not automatically mean Kendrick's streams were fake.

[00:12:41]But the fact uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, this conversation even exists tells you something important. The public no longer fully trust streaming numbers.

[00:12:51]And once the trust disappears, the entire system starts getting questioned. You know? Um, So let's end it with the real question.

[00:13:02]If 450 million streams can allegedly be manipulated, then what does success mean anymore?

[00:13:11]Because like I said, if you taking the argument, you got to take it both ways.

[00:13:15]If 450 million streams can allegedly be manipulated, then what does success uh, even mean anymore? Is it real fans?

[00:13:25]Right? Algorithms? Playlists?

[00:13:28]Label label relations?

[00:13:31]bots, virality, going viral, or actual cultural impact.

[00:13:37]And whatever you believe or should I say whether you believe Drake or believe Kendrick, one thing is clear.

[00:13:44]The streaming era has made it harder than ever to separate perception from reality. You will tell me what you guys think um in the comments. I appreciate you.

[00:14:00]Your boy Del Rey, straight gang.