2Pac’s Estate Threatens Drake With Legal Action Over “Taylor Made Freestyle”

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.