Jermaine Dupri has issued a warning to Drake over the dangers of using artificial intelligence versions of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg’s voices.
The 6 God used AI to recreate the voices of ‘Pac and Snoop on his controversial Kendrick Lamar diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which was later deleted after the former’s estate threatened legal action.
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Dupri talked about his issues with AI during a recent panel discussion with music industry veteran Steve Stoute, slamming Drake for his “ignorance” for utilizing the technology to imitate well-connected legends like 2Pac and Snoop Dogg.
“It’s not teaching people anything. If you’re going to use AI, you’ve got to use it in a smart way. Because the people that are touching it, at this point, they don’t understand some of the things that it can damage, right?” he said.
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“If you look at the Drake song where he used Snoop and 2Pac’s voice, I don’t think people listened to that and understand how serious people take 2Pac […] I think Snoop understood why he shouldn’t answer to it because it could have gotten really dangerous.”
He continued: “I’ve been through every era of Hip Hop. That 2Pac and Biggie era, I was there, that shit was real dangerous. This ain’t no play-play Instagram shit. There are people that really live that life.
“The fact that you feel like you can just use 2Pac’s voice […] To not [issue a disclaimer] and think you can jump on the internet and do things with people’s voices, to me, it’s ignorance.”
Jermaine Dupri believes it was “ignorant” of Drake to use AI-generated voices of 2Pac and Snoop Dogg in his "Taylor Made Freestyle" to diss Kendrick Lamar:
“I don’t think people understood.. how serious people take Tupac… it could’ve got really dangerous.. this ain’t no play… pic.twitter.com/KFgBLropQb
— Episodes (@episodesent) June 6, 2024
“Taylor Made Freestyle” was also criticized by 2Pac’s brother Mopreme Shakur, along with his former Death Row Records label boss Suge Knight.
“Young people do what young people do. It’s y’all turn, but regarding the homie ‘Pac, he wasn’t no chump. Putting him on a song and dissing Kendrick for everybody entertainment — that ain’t how it go,” Knight said on his prison podcast Collect Call.
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“Then putting him on a song with Snoop, who was a part of his downfall and exit, ain’t ever a good look. ‘Pac was a king on that chessboard. He never was a pawn, so he can’t make him be a pawn now.”
Snoop was also surprised by his own appearance on the track, remarking in a brief Instagram clip: “They did what? When? How? Are you sure? [Sigh] Y’all have a good night. Why everybody calling my phone, blowing me up? What the fuck— what happened? What’s going on? I’m going back to bed. Good night.”
“Taylor Made Freestyle” was removed from Drake’s social media pages after a strongly worded cease and desist letter was sent by 2Pac’s estate.
“The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” it read. “Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights, 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.
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“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.”
