Written by Kristin Rendon Dailymail.com
22:51 April 24, 2024, updated 23:07 April 24, 2024
Drake has sparked the ire of Tupac's estate after he used AI to recreate the late rapper's voice in his new song “Taylor Made Freestyle,'' which disses Kendrick Lamar.
According to Rolling Stone, Drake, 37, used artificial intelligence to clone the voices of both Tupac and Snoop Dogg for his second diss against Lamar — and now the late rapper's legacy. The governing body reportedly sent a suspension letter to Drake asking him to remove the song.
The letter, sent by attorney Howard King, gave Drake 24 hours to remove the track or face legal action.
The use of artificial intelligence was branded a “clear violation of Tupac's public profile and the legal rights of his estate” and “a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.” .
The letter claimed the foundation “never approved” the AI recreation of Tupac.
The song was released by Drake on Friday, but through a video on social media rather than a streaming service.
If it had been released on a streaming service, it might have earned royalties.
Despite this, the legal letter said the song still garnered a lot of attention and was listened to.
Adding to the outrage was the fact that the song was a diss track against “Estate's good friend” Kendrick Lamar.
“The use of Tupac's similarly deplored voice without permission against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend of the estate who has shown nothing but respect for Tupac and his legacy both publicly and privately, is even more insulting,” the letter said. It makes things worse.”
“It's hard to believe, but [Tupac’s record label]’s intellectual property was not collected to create a fake Tupac AI of record,” the letter continues.
King also said Drake would “describe how the sound-alike was created and the person or company that created it, including any recordings or other data that were 'scraped' or used.” claims.
The letter also said the song may have violated the Right to Publicity Act, a provision that “allows protection of a person's likeness,” Rolling Stone writes.
However, the outlet points out that the law generally protects against the inappropriate use of someone's likeness and is less protective on AI issues.
King argued that the song violated California's right of publicity law, saying it gave the “false impression that the Estate and Tupac were promoting or endorsing similar song lyrics.” said.
Drake's past attempts to prevent others from inappropriately using his likeness are also addressed in the letter, including a 2023 project that also used AI to recreate his voice. The song “Heart on My Sleeve” was also included.
The song is Drake's second diss track against Lamar, posted on Instagram last week.
He captioned the post, “TaylorMade Freestyle,” adding, “I guess it's time to wait.”
Snoop humorously responded to the song on Instagram, saying to the camera, “What did they do?” when? how? Are you serious? Good night everyone.
“Why is everyone calling my phone and blowing me up?” What is that? what happened? what happened? Go back to bed. good night. '