A day after Tupac Shakur's estate threatened to sue over the late rapper's use of AI-generated vocals, Drake has pulled his “Taylor Made Freestyle” from social media.
Last Friday, Drake posted the Kendrick Lamar diss track – which also features vocals from AI Snoop Dogg – on his social media accounts. The song made headlines for the West Coast legends' controversial use of AI vocals as well as lyrics targeting Lamar in an ongoing feud between the rappers, as well as some shots taken at Taylor Swift.
On Wednesday, in a cease and desist letter obtained exclusively by Advertising signHoward King – a lawyer for the Tupac Shakur estate – told Drake (Aubrey Drake Graham) that he had to confirm that he would be dropping his “Taylor Made Freestyle” in less than 24 hours.
“The Estate is deeply disappointed and dismayed by the unauthorized use of Tupac's voice and persona,” King wrote in the letter. “Not only is the record a blatant violation of Tupac's publicity and estate's legal rights, it's 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.” (Read more about the letter here.)
King went on to point out that the use of Tupac's voice in a diss track against Lamar was particularly inflammatory. “The unauthorized, equally terrifying use of Tupac's voice against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend of the Estate who has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately, adds insult to injury,” King wrote.
Advertising sign reached out to reps for both Drake and the Tupac estate on Thursday (April 24) after the song was removed, and both declined to comment.
“Taylor Made Freestyle,” the follow-up to Drake's “Push Ups” track from earlier this month, is part of a feud seemingly sparked by Lamar's verse on Future and Metro Boomin's “Like That,” which targets in both. Drake and J. Cole. “Like That” has spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/music/rb-hip-hop/drake-removes-taylor-made-freestyle-ai-tupac-snoop-1235667030/
