The estate of Tupac Shakur has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Drake over the Toronto rapper’s “Taylor Made Freestyle.” The track, a diss aimed at Kendrick Lamar, features vocals meant to sound like 2Pac, likely created using artificial intelligence. The estate is asking Drake to take down the song, which he posted on his social media pages last week.
The Tupac Shakur Estate is being represented by prominent entertainment lawyer Howard E. King. In his letter to Drake, King called “Taylor Made Freestyle” “a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the Estate’s legal right” and “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. The unauthorized, equally dismaying use of Tupac’s voice against Kendrick Lamar, a good friend to the Estate who has given nothing but respect to Tupac and his legacy publicly and privately, compounds the insult.”
Shakur’s estate plans “to pursue all of its legal remedies” if Drake does not take down “Taylor Made Freestyle,” the lawyer wrote.
Pitchfork has reached out to Drake’s representatives for comment and more information.
Drake and Kendrick Lamar’s long-simmering feud has picked up steam in recent weeks. Lamar took shots at Drake (and J. Cole) on March’s “Like That.” Drake formally responded with “Push Ups,” and he followed the diss song with “Taylor Made Freestyle.” On the freestyle, Drake used AI 2Pac and AI Snoop Dogg vocals to taunt Lamar into responding to him again. Snoop Dogg has not publicly expressed his desire to take legal action against Drake, but he did post a video to show his confusion with the situation.
