The Estate Of Tupac Is Threatening To Sue Drake Over His Use Of An AI Generated Verse

SOURCE: Tupac Shakur’s estate is threatening to sue Drake over a recent diss track against Kendrick Lamar that featured an AI-generated version of the late rapper’s voice, calling it a “a flagrant violation” of the law and a “blatant abuse” of his legacy.

In a Wednesday cease-and-desist letter obtained exclusively by Billboard, litigator Howard King told Drake (Aubrey Drake Graham) that he must confirm that he will pull down his “Taylor Made Freestyle” in less than 24 hours or the estate would “pursue all of its legal remedies” against him.

“The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” King wrote in the letter. “Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights, it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use."

“The unauthorized, equally dismaying use of Tupac’s voice against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend to the Estate who has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately, compounds the insult,” King wrote.

So let me start by saying I'm not giving any additional background on the Drake vs Kendrick Lamar beef that has been brewing in the pot for years according to Drizzy. Music savant Dante wrote a blog with a title longer than the body of a Nicky Smokes blog and then an additional 15,000 words if you want to catch up on that:

But after that blog was published, Drake threw another jab this last weekend when he released "Taylor Made Freestyle", while "we wait on (Kendrick) you I guess" with AI vocals from Tupac and Snoop:

He dropped it the same day that Taylor dropped her album and basically made fun of Kendrick because he now has to wait to drop his long anticipated diss track response (that will likely never come). I don't care who you have in the beef, but you have to give points to Drizzy for using the two most notable California rappers in a song dissing the new age guy. Now Tupac's estate is pissed and wants Drake's head if he doesn't take the song down. As of this writing, he hasn't taken it down, and my initial suspicion is that Drake is going to laugh his way to the bank and won't remove shit.

I'm no lawyer, but what are the rules around AI usage? Is it technically okay because it's not actually Tupac? Is Drake, one of the biggest artists on the planet, dumb enough to release a diss track he knows he's gonna have to delete because he wanted to throw a clean right hook? Maybe this is the start of a new precedent for AI in music before we even really get started that it's not going to be allowed?

The funniest part about this entire song was Snoop Dogg's reaction where he's basically asking "are you sure?" in total disbelief that he's on a song he had no idea about:

Unreal. Hip hop continues to be the biggest soap opera going. Still your move Kendrick… while we wait I guess.