“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.”
The Worst
After raising a stink last year when someone used AI to spoof his voice, noted teen drama star Aubrey “Drake” Graham is now in hot water for doing the same to the late, great Tupac.
As Billboard reports, an attorney for Tupac Shakur’s estate sent a cease and desist letter to Drake, threatening a lawsuit if he doesn’t take down his new Kendrick Lamar diss track, “Taylor Made Freestyle.”
The song, which deepfakes the voices of Shakur and Calvin “Snoop Dogg” Broadur Jr., is the latest forte in the Canadian rapper’s seemingly mostly one-sided beef with Lamar, which began with another, blessedly AI-less track titled “Push Ups.” In the latest song, Drake twice mentions Taylor Swift, who is also a victim of nonconsensual deepfakes, and its title may be a reference to her as well.
Despite signing off on the West Coast legend being digitally raised from the dead more than a decade ago for a holographic Coachella performance — alongside the still-living Snoop, no less — Shakur’s estate is none too pleased with Graham’s antics.
“The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” the Shakur family’s lawyer, Howard King, wrote in a letter to Graham that Billboard obtained. “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.”
“The Estate,” the letter continued, “would never have given its approval for this use.”
Drake Care
Beyond disrespecting the Shakur family and Snoop, this debacle is extra hypocritical considering that just over a year ago, Drake himself was subject to nonconsensual deepfakes that his label, Universal Music Group, worked hard and fast to get taken down.
Titled “Heart on My Sleeve,” the track featured AI renditions of Graham and his fellow Canadian, Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye, and it pissed UMG off so bad that it threatened several streaming and social media platforms to get it taken down. Drake, for his part, also seemed chagrined at his voice being AI-spoofed too, after someone else made a fake rendition of him rapping the hit “Munch” by his thirst protege Isis “Ice Spice” Gaston.
“This is the final straw,” he wrote in an Instagram story, which included a post from his label about the debacle.
While the Shakur estate is seemingly prepared for a legal fight, Snoop Dogg responded in a most characteristic fashion to the news that he’d been given the AI treatment.
“They did what? When? How? Are you sure?” Broadus intoned on his own Instagram post, a seeming reference to the Drake diss track. “Why everybody calling my phone, blowing me up? What the f*ck? What happened? What’s going on?”
“I’m going back to bed,” he continued. “Good night.”
More on deepfakes: Experts Slam Tennessee’s New Law Banning AI Impersonations
