Look what Kendrick Lamar started. Long story short: Lamar ignited multi-pronged rap beef with his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s Billboard Hot 100 chart-topper “Like That,” which J. Cole responded to with “7 Minute Drill,” but he immediately regretted it and scrubbed it from streaming services. Last weekend, Drake posted “Taylor Made Freestyle,” among his Kendrick diss tracks, to his social media channels. Lamar has yet to respond, but Tupac Shakur’s estate did.
Drake just dropped a track called “Taylor Made Freestyle” on IG with AI verses from Tupac and Snoop Dogg pic.twitter.com/qgJFc5okfk
— Complex (@Complex) April 20, 2024
On Wednesday, April 24, Billboard reported that the Shakur estate was “threatening to sue Drake” for “Taylor Made Freestyle” because it used AI to generate Tupac’s voice. Billboard relayed the estate felt it was “‘a flagrant violation’ of the law and a ‘blatant abuse’ of his legacy.”
“In a Wednesday cease-and-desist letter obtained exclusively by Billboard, litigator Howard King told Drake that he must confirm that he will pull down his ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’ in less than 24 hours or the estate would ‘pursue all of its legal remedies’ against him,” Billboard reported.
So, it’s probably not a coincidence that Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” posts have disappeared from his social media accounts as of Thursday evening, April 25.
Tupac’s estate has hit Drake with a cease and desist for using his voice on “Taylor Made”. He has 24 hours to take it down.
“…a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use.” pic.twitter.com/SrLBuqyvD2
— Sowmya Krishnamurthy (@SowmyaK) April 24, 2024
Drake has officially removed “Taylor Made Freestyle” from all social media platforms.
The diss track featured AI vocals from 2Pac and Snoop Dogg. It was taken down shortly after 2Pac’s estate threatened to sue the OVO boss for unapproved likeness. pic.twitter.com/dCW7FhyliD
— Complex Music (@ComplexMusic) April 25, 2024
“Taylor Made Freestyle” also featured AI-generated vocals from Snoop Dogg, who responded as you’d expect Snoop Dogg to respond to such nonsense.
“They did what?” Snoop said in a video posted to his Instagram. “When? How? Are you sure?” He sighed, showed his Death Row Records jacket, wished everyone a good night, laughed, and added, “Everybody calling my phone, blowing me up. What the f*ck? What happened? What’s going on? I’m going back to bed. Goodnight.”