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Drake knew he was playing with fire when he dropped “Taylor Made Freestyle” on Instagram. The rapper decided to use the AI-generated voices of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg to troll his current opponent, Kendrick Lamar, and it worked. The diss went viral and fans debated its use of AI, but 2Pac’s estate made it clear they did not like what they heard. 2Pac’s brother criticized Drake for his decision, and the late rapper’s estate threatened to take legal action against Drizzy if he didn’t take it down. It looks like he obliged.

2Pac’s estate issued a statement to Billboard on April 24. They decried the use of the rapper’s voice and called it a “blatant abuse” of his legacy. The estate also claimed Drake’s antics were a “flagrant violation” of the law, and vowed to get it taken it down one way or another. The same day the statement dropped, a cease and desist letter was reportedly sent to Drake and his legal team. According to Billboard, “litigator Howard King told Drake that he must confirm that he will pull down his ‘Taylor Made Freestyle’ in less than 24 hours or the estate would ‘pursue all of its legal remedies’ against him’.”

Drake’s “Taylor Made Freestyle” Is No Longer On Instagram

Drake has not addressed the situation with 2Pac’s estate, but he did take “Taylor Made Freestyle” down from Instagram on April 25. The track is no longer available to listen to in a legal capacity, since it wasn’t uploaded to any streaming platforms. “Taylor Made Freestyle” was the subject of intense scrutiny from music publications in the week it was available. Rolling Stone issued a lengthy oped in which the author claimed that Drake “made himself look bad.” The author also claimed that Drizzy’s use of AI set a very dangerous precedent for the music industry writ large.

Drake’s had a complicated history with 2Pac. His Apple Music bio relates an anecdote in which he saw a sign that read “Less Drake, More 2Pac” in 2011. Drake reportedly bought the sign and used it to motivate himself as a rapper. He also made tipped his hat to Makaveli on the 2016 track “4PM In Calabasas.” The 6 God dropped bars about blurring the lines between singing and rapping, and uses ‘Pac as a reference point. “Mike never tried to rap like Pac, Pac never tried to sing like Mike,” he notes. “Those my dad’s words to me when I asked him how to make it in life.”

This latest incident is only going to further the notion that 2Pac and Drake are on different planets, musically speaking. Drake isn’t trying to be the new ‘Pac, though. He’s trying to use the rapper to bait Kendrick Lamar into battle. Only time will tell if “Taylor Made Freestyle” did the trick.

[Via]