State Champ Radio Tupac Amaru Shakur
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Drake may be willing to go to war with the likes of Kendrick Lamar, Rick Ross and whoever else may have a problem with him, but he doesn’t want any smoke with Tupac Shakur’s estate.
Less than a week after releasing his “Taylor Made Freestyle” which featured an AI version of the late-great Makaveli, Tupac Shakur’s estate threatened Drizzy with a lawsuit for using Pac’s “vocals” on his Kendrick Lamar diss record. They gave him 24 hours to take the song down or face the legal consequences. Sho’nuff, the song has now been removed from Drizzy’s Instagram page with no explanation (not that one was needed).
Last weekend, Drake shocked the Hip-Hop world when he released the aforementioned song, which not only featured an AI generated verse from Tupac, but also Snoop Dogg who’s alive and well. With many fans bemoaning the artificially created verse from one of the biggest Hip-Hop icons of all-time, others praised Drake for the surprise move and crowned him the GOAT for taking rap battles into the digital age.
Needless to say, Snoop Dogg was shocked that he somehow ended up on a new record without his knowledge. Tupac Shakur’s estate wasn’t amused at all and slapped Drake with a cease-and-desist letter, which threatened him with a lawsuit if he didn’t take the song down from his page.
According to USA Today, the message was received and the song is now as ghost as the spirit of the man who was featured on it.
Per USA Today:
In a letter obtained by USA TODAY Wednesday, the estate of Tupac and his mother, Afeni Shakur, says it’s “deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality in the ‘Taylor Made (Freestyle)’ record.”
The letter continues, “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 release is “a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the Estate’s legal rights. … The Estate would never have given its approval for this use,” the letter states. “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.”
And with that, the King of the North had to bow down to the rap legend’s representatives as he had no desire to take this battle to the courts.
Meanwhile, the Hip-Hop world continues to await a response from Kendrick Lamar. His silence has fans wondering if he’ll even continue to participate in the battle that he set off with his verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” just last month.
We’re starting to lose faith that he will, but to each his own.
What do y’all think of this situation? Did y’all even like the song? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Keffe D appeared in court this week at a Nevada Court. He has formally plead not guilty to the murder of Tupac Shakur.
The Associated Press is reporting that the former Southside Crip gang member plans to fight for his freedom. On Thursday, November 2 he appeared in shackles before Clark County District Court Judge Tierra Jones. When asked the magistrate asked his plea the 60-year-old born Duane Keith Davis responded “not guilty”. The judge stated the court will not be seeking the death penalty and also confirmed that Compton, California native will be represented by public defenders Robert Arroyo and Charles Cano.
On September 29 Davits was arrested outside of his home in Las Vegas on murder charges regarding Tupac Shakur’s death. Two months prior local authorities conducted a search at his residence relating to the case. The indictment claims that Keffe D obtained a gun from an associate and provided the weapon to one of his crew members while riding the white Cadillac sedan that opened fire on Tupac Shakur on September 7, 1996.
While the murder was never officially solved former Los Angeles Detective Greg Kading released Murder Rap in 2011. The book follows how a task force that he lead worked the cold case and eventually revealed that Keffe D admitted to his role in Tupac’s murder. Years later Davis would release his own book and participate in various online interviews detailing his role in the infamous crime. Keffe alleged that his nephew Orlando “Baby Lane” Anderson was the triggerman; the same individual Tupac and the Death Row Records entourage attacked at the MGM Grand Hotel.
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The 2Pac murder investigation rabbit hole continues to get deeper and deeper. The late, great rapper’s brother Mopreme says that Diddy told him he didn’t have anything to do with the infamous murder.
TMZ is reporting that the 2Pac’s stepbrother recently spoke to The Art of Dialogue. During the interview he discussed a variety of topics related to his legendary sibling. As expected the host Art asked the former Thug Life group member about that fateful night of September 7, 1996. He went on to make a reveal that quickly went viral. The “Feels Good” rapper says that Diddy once called him to personally tell him he had nothing to do with 2Pac’s death. “The boy Puffy called me, though,” Mopreme said. “Puffy called me back in the day. He was like, ‘I just want you to know I ain’t have nothing to do with your brother’s [murder]. I know who you are, but we never met. I just want to call you man to man and let you know that I ain’t have nothing to do with your brother’s death.’”
He went on to explain that while he thought it was a noble gesture he still was seeking answers. “I told him I appreciate the call, but the truth has yet to come out, so we gon’ see,” he added. “Back then, I wanted all the information I could get. I heard what he said, but this s**t been so chaotic. Ain’t know which way to go until you found out more information. He could have been trying to cover his a**, or he could have been sincere.”
As spotted at Vibe Magazine 50 Cent has continued his attacks on Diddy. Once again he has pointed the finger of guilt at the Bad Boy Entertainment mogul as per Keffe D’s story that Puffy offered a Crip set money to kill 2Pac. In an Instagram post he shared a clip of a Keffe D interview from The Art Of Dialogue where the Compton native claims that Diddy could have showed him and crew more love. “LMAO 😆Brother Love, show some love. Damn should have just sent this fool a few dollars.” the caption read.
You can view Mopreme’s interview below.
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