Tupac Shakur, who was well-known for his 1990s gangsta rap style and his activism for social justice, passed away tragically in a drive-by shooting in 1996.
Nonetheless, his name lives on, and it seems that his voice still resonates thanks to artificial intelligence.
In recent weeks, Drake’s release of Taylor Made Freestyle, his second diss single targeted at Kendrick Lamar, has thrust Tupac back into the spotlight.
Drake’s Push Ups sequel became popular despite being available only on his Instagram and X platforms.
Like most of Drake’s recent releases, Taylor Made Freestyle caused controversy online.
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While some internet users thought it was a wise decision to ‘feature Tupac’, others thought it opened the door for artificial intelligence and established a bad precedent for the music industry’s future.
Tupac Shakur’s estate was among those who took it seriously. According to reports, the lawyer for Tupac’s estate, Howard King, issued Drake a cease-and-desist order requesting that he take down the song from the internet or face more legal action.
This action, however, prompted the question, “Who is in control of Tupac Shakur’s estate?”
After his mother, Afeni Shakur, passed away in 2016, it was rumored that Tom Whalley, a former executive at Warner Bros. Records, assumed the position of executor of Tupac Shakur’s estate.
When he was employed by Interscope in 1989, the label had signed a young Tupac. After Tupac passed away, Afeni founded Amaru Records as a record label to handle her son’s unanticipated music releases.
Since the star’s passing, Amaru Records has published 11 albums and the documentary, Tupac: Resurrection.
Whalley has been in charge of Amaru Entertainment and the star’s estate ever since Afeni passed away unexpectedly from a heart attack.
Tupac’s sister Sekyiwa Shakur and the Tupac Shakur Foundation sued Whalley in January 2022. They asserted in the lawsuit that Whalley had been flagrantly abusing his position as Afeni Shakur’s executor by “embezzling millions” of dollars.
Tupac’s net worth was an astounding $28 million at the time of his death, according to PinkVilla. However, it appears that there were differing reports about the rapper’s net worth at the time of his passing.
However, The Richest estimates Tupac’s estate’s value at $40 million as of 2024; other articles claim the estate is worth double that amount, or more than $100 million when combined with a library of unreleased assets.
