AI and Exploitation: Hating Drake Does Make You Deep

While casually scrolling on Instagram, I came across a post from @champagnepapi—better known as Drake. The collection of photos included a shirt that read “Hating Drake Doesn’t Make You Deep.” As someone who closely followed the battle of Kendrick versus Drake, I was shocked to see the number of comments praising the shirt’s declaration. Beforehand, I had assumed that most people understood why Drake’s actions landed him in the hot seat amongst listeners. 

While observing the battle’s progression, I noticed that collective frustrations extended beyond who put out the better songs, and Drake’s blatant betrayal of the music industry eventually became the center of conversation. For many, his weaponization of both artificial intelligence (AI) and the justice system revealed his ignorance and/or complete apathy towards the historical plight of Black musicians. Through detailing Drake’s use of AI in music, I aim to reveal why indifference towards Drake quickly turned into an active dislike for not just his music but also his morals.

Artificially Made Freestyle: The Threat to Creativity and Autonomy

On April 19, 2024, Drake released his diss track “Taylor Made Freestyle” on social media. The track features AI-generated verses from Snoop Dogg and the late Tupac Shakur, badgering Kendrick Lamar to respond to Drake’s previous song  “Push Ups.” This prompted backlash from many listeners, the most influential ones being from Tupac’s estate. Howard King, the representing attorney, wrote a response condemning Drake’s use of Tupac’s voice and threatened to pursue legal action against Drake if the song was not taken down. 

This reaction is especially understandable when considering how Drake’s actions resemble historic instances of exploitation. Black musicians’ struggle for fair compensation can be traced as far back as the Jim Crow era. During this intense era of segregation, white “middlemen” would book venues and handle various operations on behalf of a Black artist. However, most would either shortchange their artist or flat out refuse to pay them. This exploitation only intensified as the music industry grew; musicians became trapped in deceitful contracts with rip-off managers and fought to receive the royalties and pensions owed to them. Predatory management teams continuously sought to defraud Black artists of all their profits, and there’s an argument to be made that Drake did the same. Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Drake benefiting from Tupac’s voice without offering anything in return is a chilling reminder of the exploitation that Black musicians worked hard to overcome.Furthermore, Drake’s actions weren’t just offensive to Tupac, Snoop Dogg, or Kendrick, but to the music industry as a whole. Drake’s freestyle was released mere weeks after more than two hundred artists across multiple genres signed an open letter advocating for protection against AI. Artists expressed concern about violations of their personality rights and a lack of fair compensation. Thus, the seemingly coincidental timing of the track’s release positioned Drake as having a complete disregard for these concerns. All in all, the artificially-made freestyle did more harm than good and revealed Drake’s disregard of exploitation in the music industry.

The Fall Off

There are a plethora of other mistakes made on Drake’s end that are worth mentioning. For instance, he filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group following the release of Kendrick’s “Not Like Us” without considering the historical policing of Black creative expression. Additionally, he incorrectly interpreted Kendrick’s “Mother I Sober”, referring to it as “that one record where you (Kendrick) say you got molested” and proceeded to taunt him about being sexually abused. But, at the root of each of these issues lies Drake’s lack of genuine appreciation for rap and possibly music as a whole. 

Some may believe that having an appreciation for music history is not a prerequisite to being a good musician. However, in my opinion, being a good musician extends beyond one’s musical talents. Since its inception, rap has always been political. Rappers’ lyrics and actions foster real-world consequences for themselves and their listeners. Therefore, any artist attempting to position themself as one of the “big three” in the industry should be aware of their political clout and the responsibilities that come with it. Had Drake been willing to acknowledge the error of his ways, there could have been a possibility for his image to recover. However, his doubling down —implying that people are only critiquing him to seem “deep” — further emphasizes Drake’s surface-level connection to music. Ultimately proving why, in Kendrick’s words, he is truly not like us.