Drake has sparked outrage from Tupac’s estate after he used AI to recreate the late rapper’s voice in his new Kendrick Lamar song, Taylor Made Freestyle.
The rapper, 37, used artificial intelligence to clone the voices of Tupac and Snoop Dogg in his second anti-Lamar song, and now the late rapper’s estate has sent Drake a cease-and-desist letter requesting the song’s removal , according to Rolling Stone.
Sent by attorney Howard King, the letter gave Drake 24 hours to locate the clue, or else legal action would be taken against him.
The use of artificial intelligence was called a “flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and estate’s legal rights” and a “flagrant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.”
The letter stated that the estate “would never” have approved Tupac’s re-enactment with AI.
Drake has sparked outrage from Tupac’s estate after he used AI to recreate the late rapper’s voice in his new Kendrick Lamar song, Taylor Made Freestyle.
The song uses artificial intelligence to recreate the voices of Tupac and Snoop Dogg; Tupac photographed in 1996
The song was released by Drake on Friday, but was released via video on social media and not streaming services.
Had it been released on streaming services, it could have earned royalties.
Despite this, the legal letter noted that the song still gained a lot of publicity and listening.
What caused the most anger was the fact that the song was a track against ‘good friend of the Estate’ Kendrick Lamar.
“The equally disheartening unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend of the State who has shown nothing but respect for Tupac and his legacy in public and private, compounds the insult,” the letter said. .
‘It’s hard to believe that [Tupac’s record label]”The ‘intellectual property was not used to create Tupac’s fake AI on the Registry,'” the letter continues.
King also insists that Drake provide an explanation of “how the sound-alike was created and the people or companies that created it, including all recordings and other data ‘mined’ or used.”
The letter also noted that the song may have violated rights of publicity laws, provisions that “allow for the protection of a person’s image,” Rolling Stone writes.
The song was released by Drake on Friday, but was released via video on social media and not streaming services; Drake in the 2022 photo
However, the outlet notes that laws generally protect against misuse of someone’s image and not so much against artificial intelligence problems.
Noting that the song violated California’s rights of publicity law, King claimed that the song gives the “false impression that the estate and Tupac promote or endorse the similar-sounding lyrics.”
Drake’s past attempts to prevent others from misusing his image in the past were also mentioned in the letter, which included the 2023 song that also used AI to recreate his voice, Heart on My Sleeve.
The letter stated that the estate “would never have” approved the AI’s recreation of Tupac; the late rapper in the photo
The song is Drake’s second song against Lamar and was posted to Instagram last week.
“Taylor Made Freestyle,” she captioned the post, adding, “While we wait for you I guess.”
Snoop reacted to the song with humor on Instagram, telling the camera: ‘They did what? When? As? Are you sure? Have a good night.
‘Why is everyone calling my phone and blowing me up?’ What the fuck? What happened? What is happening? I’m going back to bed. Good night.’