Drake Removes Diss Track Containing AI Voices After Legal Threat

Drake has removed his diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which contained artificially created lines imitating the voices of two legendary West Coast rappers, from his social media pages after receiving a stop and desist order from Tupac Shakur’s estate.

The song was originally released on April 19 as Drake’s second response to the Canadian artist’s rap conversation with Compton, California native Kendrick Lamar. In the diss track, listeners can hear artificial intelligence-generated lyrics resembling the voices of Shakur and Snoop Dogg. Days later, the estate of Shakur, who died in 1996, sent a stop and desist letter to Drake, demanding that he conform to take down “Taylor Made Freestyle” inside 24 hours. Alternatively, the estate threatened legal motion over the unauthorized use of the late rapper’s vocals on the Billboard song reported.

A representative of Shakur’s estate, Howard King, said in a press release how “deeply dismayed and disappointed” the rapper was that he used Shakur’s voice and personality without permission. Shakur, one in all hip hop’s most famous figures, is Lamar’s fundamental source of inspiration. Drake, a prolific hitmaker, sought to tap into that nerve on the diss track and get a fast response from Lamar, one of the successful artists and revered songwriters within the genre.

“Not only is this record a blatant violation of Tupac’s notoriety and estate rights, but it is also a gross abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time,” King continued. “The estate would never consent to such use.”

The morning after Drake shared the song, Snoop Dogg took to social media to post a response that seemed to be in response to his AI-generated vocals on the track.

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“What did they do? When? How? Are you sure?” he said, taking a look at the camera.

Drake’s release of “Taylor Made Freestyle” is the most recent development in an ongoing feud between several artists. Chris Brown, Quavo, Rick Ross, Future, Metro Boomin and others are among the many rappers who share information online.

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