Tupac Shakur’s estate is threatening legal action against Canadian rapper Drake because he apparently used artificial intelligence to simulate the late rapper’s voice in a diss track.
Shared on Drake’s Instagram account on Friday, the track “Taylor Made Freestyle” was aimed at rapper Kendrick Lamar, with whom Drake has recently been embroiled in a public rap feud. The song also featured what appeared to be an AI-generated voice from rapper Snoop Dogg, as well as verses from Drake himself.
In the song, a fake Shakur can be heard taunting Lamar, rapping, “You asked for the smoke, now you seem too busy for the smoke.”
As Billboard reported on Wednesday, Shakur’s estate has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Drake, who is named Aubrey Graham in the official statement, demanding that he remove the freestyle from social media within 24 hours or the estate will take legal action.
“The estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” attorney Howard King wrote in the letter, according to Billboard. “The record is not only a blatant violation of Tupac’s public relations and the estate’s legal rights, but also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The estate would never have consented to this use.”
Drake’s track followed the release of rapper Future and producer Metro Boomin’s collaborative album “We Don’t Trust You” last month, which features Lamar on a song called “Like That.”
In the song, Lamar rapped: “Fuck the big three, nigga, I’m just the big man.”
The line referenced and dismissed the unofficial category of “hip-hop’s big three,” which many rap fans often place Lamar, Drake and J. Cole in. Lamar also rapped other lines in the song that listeners thought were directed at Drake and Cole, including: “Your best work is a light package / Ni**a, Prince outlived Mike Jack / Ni**a, bum, before all your dogs get buried / That’s a K with all those nines, he’s gonna watch ‘Pet Sematary.'”
Lamar has cited Shakur as one of his inspirations and Snoop has complimented and collaborated with Lamar. All three are also West Coast rappers, so Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” seemed to be an attempt to provoke Lamar into responding to both this song and another diss track Drake made for Lamar called “Push Ups,” which was officially released last week.
In the cease-and-desist letter, King said the “unauthorized and equally upsetting use of Tupac’s voice against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend of the estate who has shown nothing but respect for Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately, adds insult to injury.”
“If you consent, the estate will consider whether an informal negotiation is appropriate to resolve this matter,” King continued. “If you do not consent, our client has authorized this firm to pursue all legal remedies available to it, including but not limited to a lawsuit for infringement of the estate’s copyrights, publicity and privacy rights and resulting damages, injunctive and punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees.”
A spokesperson for Drake did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
The increasing use of AI in music has its advantages, such as assisting with mixing and mastering, but it also brings its own challenges, including the unwarranted imitation of artists’ and producers’ voices and styles.
This happened back in April last year, when an artist named Ghostwriter used the AI-generated voices of Drake and The Weeknd for a track called “Heart on My Sleeve.”
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