Who owns Tupac Estate? Drake threatened with lawsuit over use of rap legend's AI vocals in recent diss track 

On April 24, the estate of the late American rapper-songwriter Tupac Shakur, issued a cease-and-desist letter to Canadian rapper, singer, and actor Drake for using the former’s voice on his recent diss track Taylor Made Freestyle, directed at rapper-lyricist Kendrick Lamar.

Tupac Estate, as it is officially called, threatened to sue Drake for using the All Eyez On Me hitmaker’s AI-generated vocals on the diss track, which they referred to as “a flagrant violation” of the law, and “a blatant abuse” of his legacy.

When Tupac passed away in September 1996, his mother, Afeni Shakur, became the sole owner of his estate. However, she too died in 2016 and made former Interscope executive Tom Whalley the executor of the trust of the Tupac Estate. Meanwhile, the litigator of the estate is Howard King.

---

Tupac Shakur’s estate gave Drake a 24-hour deadline to take down his diss track from all platforms

Tupac Estate sent Drake a cease-and-desist letter on Wednesday, giving him a deadline of less than a day to remove Taylor Made Freestyle from all platforms or face legal consequences. The letter came amidst Drake using the late rapper’s AI vocals on the diss track. The AI voice is heard rapping:

"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/F*ck this Canadian lightskin, Dot."

Several media outlets, including USA Today and Billboard, obtained a copy of the letter, which read as follows -

"The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality. Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the Estate’s legal rights, [but] it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use.”

It further continued –

"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."

The Estate letter to Drake also stated that the use of Shakur’s voice against Kendrick Lamar was insulting, “unauthorized” and “equally dismaying” as Lamar was a “good friend” to the late rap legend, and has “given nothing but respect” to him both publicly and privately.

It further claimed that Taylor Made Freestyle “created the false impression that the Estate and Tupac promote or endorse the lyrics for the sound-alike, and the Record has adversely affected the market for (Amaru Entertainment Inc's) own AI projects.”

Highlighting the “harm that unauthorized AI impersonations” cause to artists such as Drake himself, Tupac Estate’s letter demanded that the 6 God rapper issue a written confirmation that his diss track was taken down from all platforms by the afternoon of April 25.

It also asked Drizzy to provide a thorough explanation of “how the sound-alike was created and the persons or company” involved in the process, and submit all recordings and other data that were “scarped” or “used.”

Notably, Drake shared his diss track on Instagram on April 19, but never officially launched the song. So far, he has neither issued a response to the Estate letter nor taken down Taylor Made Freestyle from the platform.

Meanwhile, apart from Shakur’s AI-generated voice, Champagne Papi also used rapper Snoop Dogg’s sound-alike.

Seemingly replying to the same, the Gin and Juice hitmaker took to Instagram, and used a series of emojis in the caption, including that of a robot and a microphone. In the video, he asked why everybody was calling him, and what was going on, before sighing and wishing people a good night.