A lawyer representing Tupac Shakur’s heirs has sent Drake a formal notice after he used artificial intelligence (AI) to recreate the late rapper’s voice in a song.
Howard King writes in the letter that Taylor Made Freestyle is a “blatant violation of Tupac’s image and legal rights regarding inheritance.” Tupac’s heirs will consider suing Drake if he doesn’t remove the song from platforms where it is available.
Drake, born Aubrey Drake Graham, posted the track online last week. In Taylor Made Freestyle, the rapper sends several arrows to his counterpart Kendrick Lamar. The latter said last month in the song Like That that Drake was not up to him and the two men have been in a heated argument ever since.
Mr. King calls Drake’s use of a facsimile of Tupac Shakur’s voice “a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time,” particularly because “Drake used it to criticize Lamar, who always respected Tupac and his legacy. »
The lawyer claims in the letter that Drake “used the same California laws that he knowingly violated with AI” to challenge a company’s website that used an image of him without his consent.
Mr. King says this case was “much less publicized and much more harmless.”