Drake removes ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’ diss track after Tupac Shakur’s estate threatens lawsuit
Drake removed the song that used AI-generated vocals from the late rapper and Snoop Dogg in an ongoing rap feud with Kendrick Lamar
Drake has removed his “Taylor Made Freestyle” diss track, which featured artificially created verses that mimicked the voices of two legendary West Coast rappers, from his social media pages after receiving a cease-and-desist order from Tupac Shakur’s estate.
The song was originally posted on April 19 as a second Drake response in the Canadian artist’s rap beef with Kendrick Lamar, who is from Compton, California. In the diss track, listeners can hear AI-generated lyrics resembling Shakur’s voice and that of Snoop Dogg. Days later, the estate of Shakur, who died in 1996, sent a cease-and-desist letter to Drake demanding that he agree to take down “Taylor Made Freestyle” within 24 hours. Alternatively, the estate threatened to legal action for the unauthorized use of the late rapper’s vocals on the song, Billboard reported.
Shakur’s estate representative, Howard King, said in a statement how “deeply dismayed and disappointed” it was for the rapper to use Shakur’s voice and personality without permission. One of the most celebrated figures in hip hop, Shakur is a main source of inspiration for Lamar. Drake, a prolific hitmaker, sought to tap that nerve in the diss track and draw a quick response from Lamar, one of the most decorated artists and respected lyricists in the genre.
“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,” King continued. “The Estate would never have given its approval for this use.”
In the morning after Drake shared the song, Snoop Dogg posted a reaction on social media seemingly in response to his AI-generated vocals on the track.
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“They did what? When? How? Are you sure?” he said while looking at the camera.
Drake’s release of “Taylor Made Freestyle” is the latest development in the ongoing feud between several artists. Chris Brown, Quavo, Rick Ross, Future, Metro Boomin and others are among the rappers going back and forth with each other online.
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