The recent song released by drakewhere he criticizes his peer Kendrick Lamaris wrapped in the middle of a controversy since the legal team representing Tupac Shakur -of who recreated his voice with artificial intelligence– threatens to take legal action if the topic is not removed from the internet.
As reported by Billboard, the legal team of the late rapper Tupac is ready to take Drake to court over the release of ”Taylor Made”the song released by Drake where uses the voices of Shakur and Snoop Dogg, but generated with artificial intelligence.
Litigator Howard King called the song ”flagrant abuse of legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time,” and said that Shakur’s estate They never authorized the use of Tupac’s voice.
He also added that “the State is deeply shocked and disappointed by the unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” and that “The State would never have given its approval for this use.”
Over the past few weeks, several rap artists, including Lamar, Drake and J. Cole, They have been deliberately attacking each other. (and entertaining everyone else) through his music after years of simmering tensions over, among other things, who is the greatest of the ”game”.
In response to ”Like That”Future’s recently released song featuring Lamar in which he criticizes Drake for making previous hits, Drake released ”Push Ups”a song that pokes fun at Lamar’s height, his shoe size, and the details of his old contract at Top Dawg Entertainment.
Instead of waiting for a response, Drake also released ”Taylor Made” on April 19, and the song immediately garnered attention, least of all for its reference to Taylor Swift and more for its prominent use of voices from west coast rappers (one of whom died many years ago) who did not appear to be involved in any of the ongoing disputes. After the launch of ”Taylor Made”Snoop uploaded a video to Instagram with a variety of emojis seemingly indicating bewilderment.
The advance of artificial intelligence in music
The whole situation may seem silly from a distance, but ”TaylorMade is one of the most important examples of what is emerging from the rise of music generated by artificial intelligence which flooded social media and raised questions about how record labels plan to respond.
Curiously, Drake has a history of publicly condemning AI-generated music and at the same time it seems one of the most probable sources of ”Heart on My Sleeve”the viral AI-generated song attributed to anonymous TikTok user ghostwriter977.
Tupac’s heirs want him to retire ”Taylor Made” within 24 hours, and if Drake made the song without his permission, it may disappear. But as much as this dispute has tried to get attention, Drake might be very willing to go to court to make his case.
