Tupac Shakur’s Estate Hits Drake With a Cease and Desist

Turns out there’s someone even less stoked than Snoop Dogg to find themself inserted into Drake’s drama. The estate of Tupac Shakur has sent a cease and desist to Drizzy over “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which uses AI-generated Tupac and Snoop to diss Kendrick Lamar. The document, obtained by Billboard, demands the song be pulled from streaming services or face a lawsuit. “The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” it reads. “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.” Howard King, the estate’s attorney, also demanded “a detailed explanation for how the sound-alike was created and the persons or company that created it, including all recordings and other data ‘scraped’ or used.” He points out that the AI Shakur would have had to be trained on something, most likely the estate’s copyrighted intellectual property. Drake has 24 hours to take down “Taylor Made” before further legal action is taken.

• [Billboard]

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