Funk Flex Exposes Radio Payola in Support of Drake

Drake’s legal dealings in connection to Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” just got Funk Flex’s stamp of approval. On Tuesday (November 26), the veteran radio DJ shared an aggressive tweet in which he claimed Drake was justified in filing a pair of legal complaints against Universal Music Group and Spotify within a 24-hour period.

In the lengthy, all caps tweet, Flex appears to allege a widespread payola operation in the radio industry and laid out the fee scale for the lucrative operation he claims cripples independent artists.

“DRAKE IS 100% RIGHT!” Flex exclaimed in the tweet. “NATIONAL PLAY! (PER SONG) DRAKE DONT $ FOR PLAY! POP / CHR RADIO: $350k URBAN RADIO: $250K MIXSHOW: $100K LOCAL MIXSHOW DIRECTOR: $40k LOCAL DJ: $3K-5K PER SONG! (DJS ON THE RADIO 5 DAYS A WEEK) THIS IS WHY INDEPENDENT ARTIST DONT RISE TO THE TOP!”

Flex concluded by absolving himself while also seemingly accusing artists at large of attempting to buy him off: “ALL YOU ARTIST KNOW I AINT NEVER TAKE A DIME FROM YOU, YOUR MANAGER OR YOUR LABELS! (BOMB HAS NO PRICE) THURSDAY! 7PM! HOT97! LETS DISCUSS!”

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Flex’s defense of Drake follows the backlash the Toronto hitmaker received in the wake of filing a pair of legal filing’s in connection to the scathing diss track Lamar released in May. In the latest filing Drake Lamar of defamation for “falsely accusing him of being a sex offender.”

In the legal complaint, Drake notes that UMG knew “Not Like Us” falsely accused him of being a “certified pedophile” and “predator” but chose to move forward with the release anyway. Prior to the defamation legal complaint, a company Drake owns filed a legal complaint against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, accusing the two entities of engaging in an illegal scheme to artificially boost the streaming numbers for Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.”

Filed in a Manhattan court, the “pre-action” petition by Frozen Moments LLC alleges deceptive business practices and violations of the RICO Act, typically reserved for organized crime cases.

In addition to Flex, artists such as Daylyt and Tyrese have chimed in on the news by sharing their reactions via social media posts. Tyrese appeared to be in disbelief over the pair of legal filing’s and says he thinks Ashton Kutcher is “Punking” everybody.

Watch the post below to see the video Tyrese posted along with his reaction.