TDE President Punch Finally Speaks on Bot Allegations

追加: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Hey yo, what up? Welcome back. This is not a podcast. This is just my thoughts with Rob Markman. Two years after Kendrick Lamar versus Drake and and the Fallout is still here. We're still dealing with the Fallout. We're still dealing with um lingering questions and and curiosities and fascinations.

[00:00:14]Drake's Iceman is dropping on Friday. As we all know, it's his first solo album since the battle. So, that's going to say a lot. There's also the Drake versus UMG lawsuit, which was initially dismissed, but is currently in appeal.

[00:00:26]So, we're still waiting to see how that shakes out. Um, and like I said, there's lingering questions, lingering curiosities and an overall interest and fascination with the whole thing, right?

[00:00:35]One of the big topics, one of the big debates, one of the big points of contention that have come from the battle um or or that has blown up since the battle is the use of bots, who is using bots, who isn't using bots. It's not a new question. Um, remember um on 21 Savages a lot in in 2018, JCole wrapped how many faking they streams getting they play from machines. So, so it's been a a topic of conversation for a long time, even before that that coal lyric, right? So, you know, the question um that we're gonna talk about today is Kendrick using bots, is TDE using bots.

[00:01:10]Label President Punch appeared on the Joe Budding podcast last week and Joe asked him straight up, what do you think he said? I'm I'mma let y'all just take that in for a second. What do you think he said? We're going to get into that info, right? I'mma play a bit of that.

[00:01:24]But first, subscribe. First like, first comment, hype, share, do all of the things. I need you to do all the things to make a channel successful. Subscribe, subscribe, subscribe, man. I appreciate y'all support. But let's get into it.

[00:01:36]We're going to play this audio right here.

[00:01:37]>> What do you have to say about uh the bot allegations?

[00:01:42]>> Since you want to sit here like we all ask tough questions, then I got to ask you.

[00:01:47]>> I ain't got nothing to say about it. We don't we don't buy.

[00:01:49]>> Do you purchase bots?

[00:01:50]>> Absolutely not.

[00:01:51]>> Have you ever?

[00:01:52]>> I have never. Have you heard of people in the industry purchasing bots?

[00:01:55]>> Of course.

[00:01:55]>> If you wanted to purchase bots, do you know where to get them from?

[00:01:57]>> I do not.

[00:01:58]>> Do you know how much bots cost?

[00:02:00]>> I do not.

[00:02:01]>> Do you know if someone is selling bundles of bots?

[00:02:03]>> He does not, [ __ ] >> I have no idea. Do you see how >> This is not the Stefon Digs. The bucket is, [ __ ] up. I got to get I got to get to the bottom of things. Uh, do you see how buying bots could be >> unfair, >> beneficial?

[00:02:17]>> Uh, sure. Absolutely. Do you see a world where an artist that were that was focused on numbers >> would uh and a label? Let me not just say artist, right?

[00:02:29]Artist and yeah word. Artist and label uh that are focused on numbers. Do you see how they could want to juice numbers up?

[00:02:37]>> Bro, we've been seeing it since MySpace.

[00:02:41]>> Since MySpace, you think so?

[00:02:43]>> They definitely ran those numbers.

[00:02:45]>> They ran a number. Yeah, they were telling up no spac [ __ ] >> No, I I wouldn't I wouldn't have >> I used to run the uh the follower account up the listening account. They run it all the way up.

[00:02:58]>> Yeah, the music pages. They had >> That's true.

[00:03:00]>> Yeah.

[00:03:00]>> But our whole thing was like if we do that, how we going to know who the actual, right?

[00:03:06]>> You know what I mean? Like we do a show, don't nobody show up cuz it was all fake.

[00:03:10]>> Yeah.

[00:03:10]>> So we like purposely chose not to do that >> back then.

[00:03:14]>> So then you heard it straight from Punch. I will not do not use bots. There are no bots in my socks. No bots on my clocks. When I listen to the locks, I use no bots. When I throw up the rock, I use no bots.

[00:03:26]I just want to have fun with it, man.

[00:03:28]Shout out to Dr. Seuss, man. Put a little Dr. Seuss on it. Um, but n when when when asked directly, Punch said no.

[00:03:35]Said absolutely not. And truthfully, what was he supposed to say? For for one, and and let's just get this out the way, right? For one, I don't know if anyone who is using bots would outwardly admit it because the whole reason someone would use bots is to make something seem real when it isn't. All right. So, so, you know, we'll get that out the way. We'll we'll we'll just, you know, set the table with that, right? Well, Punch said no. And and but I also believe Punch, right? Two things could be true. I don't think nobody would outwardly admit it, but I believe Punch. I don't believe he has anything to lie about. Um on 616 in LA, Kendrick Rap um to to Drake, you're playing nerdy with Zack B and Twitter bots. In the Drake vers lawsuit, there there's an accusation um that claimed that bots were used to boost the streams of Kendrick's Not Like Us. Remember, like I said, that lawsuit was dismissed and now it's currently being appealed. We're waiting to see how that appeal shakes out. And then after the battle, academics interviewed someone anonymously who claimed that um they bided streams on not like us.

[00:04:45]Academics then also said that he spoke to an anonymous source at Spotify and reported that Spotify said not like us that the streams were real. They were not botted. Right? I'm I'm just recapping you on the conversation. There are also allegations of Drake songs being the recipient of body streams via monies from stake. It's, you know, it's in um there's a there's a couple of of of stake civil lawsuits. So, some of this is being alleged in those civil lawsuits. There are also allegations out in Turkey against Spotify for bot activity that that as far as I know, as far as I remember off the top of my head, don't mention Drake. Um, no judgment in any of those cases. nothing.

[00:05:28]These are all allegations. Um, what I'm saying is that there's allegations all around, right? There was a lawsuit against Spotify for a payforplay involving their discovery mode feature.

[00:05:38]Drake was mentioned, but wasn't accused of anything. His name was just mentioned in the suit. That case was dismissed.

[00:05:45]Uh, didn't really have much to do with Drake at all. His name was just mentioned like Justin Bieber's name. It was about Discovery Mode in Spotify, but that case was dismissed. Anyway, um so what I'm just saying is it's been a conversation. There's been accusations hurled back and forth. Um and you know, for for many people, um it's hard to tell what's real. So, you know, when went when straight up asked about it, Punch said, "Nah, not us. Absolutely not." Um look, it's been going on for sure. We know it's been going on. The public, I think, is just beginning to really wrap their heads around it, but we're fascinated by it, right? So punch right for starters while TDE and Kendrick are still closely connected right still family for sure you can see it the truth is Kendrick isn't sign of TD anymore everything is running through PG Lang and and what Punch is speaking to more than an incident more than a singular song more than not like us is the mentality that um TDE and and their artists and their business model was birthed with right Punch says that um he says hey we've been seeing This is the MySpace days. People were were were were you know it was clout for MySpace, man.

[00:06:58]The more streams you could get, the more plays you can get. Anytime you have a public counter, a public something publicly counting those plays or streams, you know, there are people who are going to want to manipulate that, who are going to want to manipulate that follower count. So, Punch says, "We've been seeing this since the MySpace days." And, you know, from the beginning, he says TDE thought that if they did that, then they wouldn't know who the actual fan is, right? So, so you're bumping up the plays for for for a vanity for metric because it looks good. But then when it comes time to sell concert tickets, what they call hard tickets, right? Um they can't sell tickets at shows. Nobody will come to see them cuz all those plays don't correlate to real people. So he said from the ve very beginning of them building their business and building their their mentality and their approach to this whole thing that that they they didn't see the the value and the sense in using bots on the flip side and and and the Joe Budden podcast made this point as a cast um what if you're already winning what what if you're a huge act already and you could sell tickets and and you know then why use bots is the question some artists or Some artist teams might use that tactic to take a song from top five to number one to take a song from number one from number two to number one um so that you can get that press release so you could break that record. It it just depends on what you value.

[00:08:21]But but it's happening man. Bots fake streams and and also the bots aren't just running up streams. They're running up engagement on these on these social platforms on Twitter, YouTube. Last week it was said that Instagram did a a huge bot purge and and and people lost followers. It all goes back to that conversation that we often have on this channel. What do you value? Right? Does the chart positioning and the number of streams and records broken? Does that determine how you feel about a song or artist? Does does the amount of followers and and again the metrics attached to the artist um factor in how you feel about that artist or is it the quality of music? For me, for a lot of you, because I read the comments and we talk in the comments and we go back and forth, it's an easy answer. It's the music. I like a song cuz I like a song.

[00:09:15]The the the the streams, the records broken, the chart positioning, th those are extra. Those are things to celebrate for sure. But I like a song cuz I like a song. For others, that number is tied to real validation and and and and there's some fans, there's some artists, there's labels, there's business structure who see real value in those numbers. Um but but it really just boils down to what you value. Um so does Kendrick use bots?

[00:09:43]Does TDE use bots? Was not like us botted? Punch says absolutely not. Um, you know, there's still lingering questions. Um, I I I think those who have doubted whether not like us was was was boded or or not. I I don't know. Does this um quell your doubts? Does this make you believe? I I I don't know. I think people believe what they want to believe. But, you know, in an instance where where this has been speculated for for quite some time now and and and and somebody involved on the business end was asked straight up.

[00:10:25]That was his answer for you. Straight up.

[00:10:28]I believe him. I I don't think it made much sense to buy that record, but we got to see, man. That appeal is going through. We're going to see what happens with that court case. We're going to see what the court decides. Like I said, already dismissed, out on appeal. Will that original judgment get overturned? I mean, we'll wait and see. We'll talk about it when it happens. Um, but those are just my thoughts. Hit me in the comments. Let me know what you think. Till next time. All right. face.