Drake narrowly avoided legal trouble after releasing a diss track against Kendrick Lamar titled "Taylor Made Freestyle," which featured an AI-generated version of Tupac Shakur's voice. Initially released on April 19, the song was removed from Drake's Instagram page and his X account on Thursday
The removal came after an attorney representing Tupac's estate, Howard King, sent Drake a cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday. The letter threatened legal action if Drake, whose real name is Aubrey Drake Graham, did not remove the track from all public platforms. In a statement to Billboard, King confirmed that the song was taken down following the cease-and-desist order.
Howard King, the attorney representing Tupac Shakur's estate, expressed disappointment and frustration over Drake's use of AI-generated Tupac vocals in his diss track, "Taylor Made Freestyle." The statement described the use of Tupac's voice and likeness as a "flagrant violation of Tupac's publicity and the estate's legal rights," emphasizing that such a blatant abuse of the hip-hop icon's legacy is something the estate would never have authorized.
On the track, the AI-generated Tupac raps: “Kendrick, we need ya, the West Coast savior / Engraving your name in some hip-hop history / If you deal with this viciously / You seem a little nervous about all the publicity.” The song also featured AI-generated vocals from Snoop Dogg, who playfully reacted to his inclusion in an Instagram video, saying, "They did what? When? How? Are you sure?"
The unauthorized use of Tupac's vocals and the subsequent cease-and-desist letter led to the removal of the song from Drake's Instagram and X accounts. The track, released on April 19, had already been streamed over a million times on various platforms. Despite this, Drake has not issued a public statement about the song's removal.
"Taylor Made Freestyle" was the second diss track aimed at Kendrick Lamar, following an earlier track titled "Push Ups." These songs appeared after Kendrick seemed to take shots at Drake and J. Cole in the song "Like That," a collaboration with Future, which recently topped the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. Drake had also posted the "Taylor Made Freestyle" on Instagram with the caption, "While we wait on you I guess," but the post has since been deleted.
