2Pac fans know that he made a habit of speaking to us from beyond the grave. “If I Die 2Nite” predicted how he’d go out and the six posthumous albums let us know he’d still be here even if it wasn’t in a material way. But a recent 2Pac appearance was wholly unexpected — his estate isn’t too happy about it. From USA Today:
Tupac Shakur’s estate has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Drake over his use of an AI-generated imitation of Tupac’s voice in a new song, calling it “a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.”
In a letter obtained by USA TODAY Wednesday, the estate of Tupac and his mother, Afeni Shakur, says it’s “deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality in the ‘Taylor Made (Freestyle)’ record.”
The letter continues, “We demand that you immediately cease and desist from any further publication and exploitation of the Record, and that you immediately take ALL NECESSARY steps to remove it from all platforms where it is publicly available.”
Taylor Made is a diss record aimed at Kendrick Lamar. Kendrick used a recording of 2Pac as part of a motif that ran through his third commercial album “To Pimp A Butterfly.” If this lawsuit proceeds anything like the posthumous George Carlin special that got uploaded to YouTube, you should expect to see takedowns of Taylor Made in the coming weeks.
For what it’s worth, Snoop Dogg is also sampled-by-proxy using AI on the track. His response to the approximation of his voice is a bit more tongue in cheek and lighthearted than that of 2Pac’s estate:
The use of AI in music is a groundbreaking trend that is likely to result in similar lawsuits as time goes on. Listeners interested in the Drake v. Kendrick v. J. Cole v. Rick Ross v. Kanye West (for some reason) beef may get something much bigger than what they were originally bargaining for — legal precedent.
Tupac Shakur’s Estate Threatens To Sue Drake Over AI Voice Imitation: ‘A Blatant Abuse’ [USA Today]
Earlier: AI George Carlin Just Dropped A Comedy Special. The Estate Isn’t Too Happy About That.
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s.  He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.