Drake removes diss track using AI-generated Tupac vocals after estate threatens lawsuit

nme.com:

Drake has removed his diss track ‘Taylor Made Freestyle‘ after Tupac’s estate threatened a lawsuit over AI-generated vocals.The ‘Headlines’ rapper was hit with a cease-and-desist letter (per Billboard) and was told by litigator Howard King that his diss track must be taken down in less than 24 hours.

If not, Tupac’s estate would go ahead and “pursue all of its legal remedies” against him.The letter – penned by King – read: “The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality.

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.”It continued, taking issue with the rappers use of Tupac’s vocals to diss Kendrick Lamar: “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.”Now, ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’ has been taken down from all streaming platforms as well as all of Drake’s social media accounts following lawsuit threat from the estate of the late West Coast rapper.‘Taylor Made Freestyle’ was the latest in a string of shots back and forth between Drake and Lamar.The first verse on the track has been manipulated to sound like 2Pac, with lines including: “Kendrick, we need ya, the West Coast savior / Engraving your name in some hip-hop history / Fuck this Canadian light-skin, Dot / We need a no-debated West Coast victory, man”.The issue between the two artists began on the 2023 single ‘First Person Shooter’, when Drake.