Tupac Shakur’s estate threatens to sue Drake over alleged AI-generated voice in diss track

The estate of rapper Tupac Shakur is considering legal action against Drake for including a purported AI-generated rendition of Tupac’s voice in his recent song.

On April 19, 2024, Drake dropped his track “Taylor Made Freestyle,”believed to be a diss aimed at Kendrick Lamar. It has been speculated that the song includes a computer-generated rendition of Tupac’s voice.

Shortly after its release, Tupac’s estate was notified and they promptly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Drake on April 23, 2024. The letter warned the Canadian rapper to remove the song within 24 hours or face legal consequences from the estate.

Billboard obtained a copy of the C&D and released a few statements from Howard King, the attorney responsible for composing the letter.

“The Estate expresses great disappointment and concern over your unapproved use of Tupac’s voice and image,”he stated. “This record not only violates Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights, but it also disrespects the legacy of one of the most influential hip-hop artists in history. The Estate would never have granted permission for such use.”

Ever since OpenAI’s ChatGPT was launched in 2023, there has been a significant increase in the usage of AI applications, including image and video generation, as well as the emergence of completely AI-generated vocalists.

As one of the most renowned figures in rap, Tupac was an early adopter of the latest technology. In August 2023, a YouTuber utilized AI-generated voices of DMX and Tupac to create a song, which has now accumulated over a million views.

This marks the inaugural occasion where Tupac’s voice has been synthesized in a song by a prominent artist, leading to a reaction from the late rapper’s estate. The result of these claims may set a precedent for the handling of similar situations as the use of AI gains traction.

As of now, the song has been taken down from Drake’s Spotify and YouTube Music profiles.