Sheryl Crow has started a very unlikely beef with Drake over the use of an A-generated voice of Tupac Shakur for a Kendrick Lamar diss track.
The 62-year-old musician took aim at the 37-year-old Canadian rapper – born Aubrey Drake Graham – for using the voice of the deceased 1990s West Coast rapper for his Taylor Made Freestyle.
She told BBC: ‘You cannot bring people back from the dead and believe that they would stand for that.’
Sheryl took a defiant stand as she said she believes Drake used the ‘ask for forgiveness approach’ but doesn’t actually see how unethical it is to humankind. Tupac died on September 13, 1996.
She explained: ‘I’m sure Drake thought, “Yeah, I shouldn’t do it, but I’ll say sorry later”. But it’s already done, and people will find it even if he takes it down.
Sheryl Crow has started a very unlikely beef with Drake over the use of an A-generated voice of Tupac Shakur for a Kendrick Lamar diss track
The 62-year-old musician took aim at the 37-year-old Canadian rapper – born Aubrey Drake Graham – for using the voice of the deceased 1990s West Coast rapper Tupac (pictured in August 1996 – a month before his death) for his Taylor Made Freestyle
Kendrick is seen performing at Glastonbury in June 2022
‘It’s hateful. It is antithetical to the life force that exists in all of us.’
This is not the first time the track sparked controversy over the same reason as Tupac’s estate had threatened so sue over the use of the late rapper’s voice in his Kendrick Lamar diss track, Taylor Made Freestyle.
Drake had used artificial intelligence to clone both Tupac and Snoop Dogg’s voices in his second diss track against Lamar – and now the late rapper’s estate has sent Drake a cease and desist letter seeking the removal of the song, according to Rolling Stone.
Sent by attorney Howard King, the letter gave Drake 24 hours to take the track down – or else they would pursue legal action against him.
The artificial intelligence usage was branded a ‘flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights’ and ‘blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time.’
The letter claimed the estate ‘would have never’ approved of the AI recreation of Tupac.
This is not the first time the track sparked controversy over the same reason as Tupac’s estate had threatened so sue over the use of the late rapper’s voice in his Kendrick Lamar diss track, Taylor Made Freestyle
The song uses artificial intelligence to recreate both Tupac and Snoop Dogg’s voices; Tupac pictured in 1996
The song was released by Drake on Friday but was dropped via a video on social media, and not on streaming services.
Had it been released on streaming services, it could have garnered royalties.
Despite this, the legal letter noted the track still garnered plenty of publicity and listens.
Further causing infuriation was the fact the song was a diss track against ‘good friend to the Estate’ Kendrick Lamar.
‘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,’ the letter stated.
‘It is hard to believe that [Tupac’s record label]’s intellectual property was not scraped to create the fake Tupac AI on the Record,’ the letter continues.
King also insists Drake provide an explanation for ‘how the sound-alike was created and the persons or company that created it, including all recordings and other data “scraped” or used.’
The letter also noted the song may have violated publicity rights laws, stipulations that ‘allow for the protection of a person’s likeness,’ writes Rolling Stone.
The song was released by Drake on Friday but was dropped via a video on social media, and not on streaming services; Drake pictured 2022
Yet, the outlet notes the laws generally protect against the improper use of someone’s likeness and not so much any AI issues.
In making his point that the song violated California’s publicity rights law, King stated the track gives the ‘false impression that the estate and Tupac promote or endorse the lyrics for the sound-alike.’
Drake’s past attempts to stop others from wrongfully using his likeness in the past were also raised in the letter, which included the 2023 song that also used AI to recreate his voice, Heart on My Sleeve.
The letter claimed the estate ‘would have never’ approved of the AI recreation of Tupac; the late rapper pictured
The song is Drake’s second diss track against Lamar and was dropped on Instagram last week.
‘Taylor Made Freestyle,’ he captioned the post, adding: ‘While we wait on you I guess.’
Snoop reacted to the track in humorous fashion on Instagram, stating to the camera: ‘They did what? When? How? Are you sure? Y’all have a good night.
‘Why everybody calling my phone, blowing me up? What the f**k? What happened? What’s going on? I’m going back to bed. Good night.’