Drake apparently learned it isn’t wise to mess with Tupac Shakur — even decades after his untimely death. Billboard first spotted that the Canadian hip-hop artist deleted the X (Twitter) post with his track “Taylor Made Freestyle,” which used an AI-generated recreation of Shakur’s voice to try to get under Kendrick Lamar’s skin.

The takedown came after an attorney representing the late hip-hop legend threatened to sue the Canadian rapper for his “unauthorized” use of Tupac’s voice if he didn’t remove it from social channels within 24 hours. However, the track was online for a week and — unsurprisingly — has been copiously reposted.

“The Estate is deeply dismayed and disappointed by your unauthorized use of Tupac’s voice and personality,” Howard King, the attorney representing Shakur’s estate, wrote earlier this week in a cease-and-desist letter acquired by Billboard. “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.”

2PAC.com

King implied that using Shakur’s voice to diss Lamar was an especially egregious show of disrespect. Lamar, a 17-time Grammy winner and Pulitzer recipient, has spoken frequently about his deep admiration for Tupac, and the Oakland rapper’s estate says the feelings are mutual. “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,” King wrote in a cease-and-desist letter.

Drake’s track also included an AI-generated clone of Snoop Dogg’s voice. The Doggystyle rapper and cannabis aficionado appeared surprised in a social post last week: “They did what? When? How? Are you sure?” He continued, “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.”

However, the one-time Doggy Fizzle Televizzle host has a history of poker-faced coyness. Last year, he took to Instagram to solemnly announce he was “giving up smoke,” leading to rampant speculation about why the stoner icon would quit his favorite pastime. Soon after, his announcement was revealed as a PR stunt for Solo Stove — which, marketing gimmicks aside, makes some terrific bonfire pits.

Aaron Sorkin has announced that he’s currently writing a followup script to The Social Network, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He broke the news during an episode of The Town podcast that centered on how Facebook and social media have influenced democracy in the years since his Oscar-winning hit. The first film chronicled the early days of Mark Zuckerberg’s social network and starred Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake, among others.

Sorkin is cagey on the actual details of the new script, but it looks to follow Facebook throughout the Trump era. He went on to tell the podcast hosts that he actually blames the social media site for the January 6 riots that claimed the lives of five people and led to the injuries of more than 140 police officers. “Look, yeah, I’ll be writing about this,” Sorkin told podcast hosts Matthew Belloni and Peter Hamby. “I blame Facebook for January 6.”

He didn’t give any reason as to why he blames Facebook for the attack on the capitol, telling the podcast hosts that they will have to “buy a movie ticket.” Facebook, Google, Twitter and Reddit were all subpoenaed as part of the investigation into January 6. Lawmakers have suggested that Facebook didn’t take the proper steps to handle the “Stop the Steal” movement, which was organized on the platform, and that it didn’t recognize the danger posed by these groups until after the violence in DC.

Whistleblower Frances Haugen told Congress that Facebook disbanded its civic integrity team after the 2020 election. She also has said that Facebook knew its algorithms and platforms promoted harmful content and that “it failed to deploy internally recommended or lasting countermeasures.” According to Haugen, the company chose profits over safety.

Sorkin has obviously been paying attention to all of this, saying in the same interview that “Facebook has been, among other things, tuning its algorithm to promote the most divisive material possible. Because that is what will increase engagement.” He further dinged the company by suggesting that “there’s supposed to be a constant tension at Facebook between growth and integrity. There isn’t. There’s just growth.”

Now, don’t go heading to your local multiplex to buy a ticket for The Social Network 2: Electric Boogaloo just yet. The script is still in the early stages and Sorkin hasn’t announced a partnership with any studio to get the film made. This also isn’t his first attempt to get something like this off the ground. He was previously working on a script entirely about January 6, but it didn’t move forward. It remains to be seen if some aspects of that script will end up in followup to The Social Network, should it actually get made. He told the Happy Sad Confused podcast that he would only push to make a sequel to The Social Network if David Fincher returned to direct it. 

If a studio does sign on to make this project, which is fairly likely given the success of the 2010 film, it leaves me with two glaring questions. Can Jesse Eisenberg grow a sweet beard and what are his thoughts on ultra-premium livestock?

Meta’s Threads app now has more than 150 million monthly users, an increase of about 20 million new users since February. Mark Zuckerberg shared the latest user numbers during Meta’’s first-quarter earnings call, saying that the app “continues to be on the trajectory that I hope to see.”

The update suggests Threads is continuing to grow steadily, though at a slower rate than its initial explosive growth. The app racked up more than 100 million downloads in its first week, but later saw a drop-off in engagement. But over the last six months, Threads has seen more consistent growth and Zuckerberg has speculated the service could eventually be Meta’s next billion-user app.

Notably, Threads seems to be out-performing X (formerly known as Twitter) by some metrics. Estimates from analytics firm Apptopia indicated Threads has more daily users in the United States than X, Business Insider reported earlier this week. (X has claimed 550 million daily users globally.) Threads also scored another significant win recently when Taylor Swift joined the platform to promote her latest album.

Threads is, for now, unique among Meta’s apps in that it doesn’t have advertising so the company doesn’t make money from the app directly. That will likely change at some point provided Threads continues to expand its reach. Zuckerberg has previously said the company would “focus on monetization” only after the app has grown sufficiently.

In this installment of what we're listening to, Reviews Editor Cherlynn Low dives into new releases from Taylor Swift and Ariana Grande, and explores what music means to us when songs are consumed more like books and journal entries.

Cherlynn Low, Deputy Editor, Reviews

April 19 should have been declared a global holiday. It was, after all, the release day of Taylor Swift’s highly anticipated album, The Tortured Poets Department (TTPD). How could we be expected to work on this most hyped of Fridays, when there were lyrics to overanalyze and melodies to emo-walk to?

Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department

I’ll admit: I hate myself a bit for the eagerness with which I hit play on albums like TTPD and Ariana Grande’s Eternal Sunshine (ES). Both musicians had recently left long-term relationships and got together with new beaus, amid rabid press coverage and relentless speculation on Reddit. I usually prefer to hear from the people involved instead of reading tabloid articles based on what “friends close to” said, and for Swift and Grande, songs are usually as close as we’ll get to primary sources. 

I saw these albums as opportunities to get their takes on what went down. Granted, it’s always wise to take their words with generous helpings of salt, the same way therapists tend to remember that their patients’ retelling of stories can be skewed or unreliable.

Both Grande and Swift have made their lives the subject of their music for years, and they often have an air of defensiveness. Titles like “Look What You Made Me Do” and “Yes, and?” make me think of people who blame others or don’t care about the consequences of their actions. Even songs like Swift’s “Anti-Hero” from her last album and Grande’s “Thank U, Next” seem at first glance to be about taking accountability, but really continue the theme of dodging real responsibility.

I’m not sure if music has always been rooted in scrutinizing the artist’s life, but it certainly seems to have become more popular in recent years. The level of interest and analysis around things as simple as word choice or order has probably never been as high, either. It’s also worth considering that these two much-hyped albums were released within two months of each other. Granted, Swift’s new music has only been out for about 40 hours, and there are 31 whole songs spanning a full 65 minutes and 8 seconds, so I will need to listen to it a few more times for it all to sink in.

Grande’s album, which dropped last month, was scrutinized by fans and critics alike. It was released shortly after her divorce from Dalton Gomez and her budding relationship (reportedly) with fellow Wicked cast member Ethan Slater.

When I first played through ES, I was mostly underwhelmed and annoyed. There was, as expected, no accountability for what her actions did to the mother of a newborn and a lot of romanticizing of her latest man. But even on just my second listening, I knew I had a few favorite tracks. Other Engadget staff members agree with me: ES is a solid album with quite a few bangers. 

Ariana Grande - Eternal Sunshine

I may not endorse Grande’s behavior — and no one asked me to — but damn, I can’t help liking her music. And it’s probably because I’m hooked on the melodies and production, not the lyrical content.

Swift, on the other hand, seems more of an aspiring wordsmith. Much has been said about her lyrical abilities, and I have no desire to retread those waters. I’ll just say that as an occasional aspiring poet myself, I have to admire the laissez faire approach of rhyming “department” with “apartment.”

I’m more intrigued by what seems to me like the priority of a song’s words over its tune and sound. Like Billboard states, TTPD’s title alone “calls even more attention to her lyricism than usual.”

Swift’s music has always felt like journal entries meant for the public, chock-full of inside references, Easter eggs and thinly veiled digs at former lovers. Her earlier works were therefore highly relatable for scores of teenagers around the world. But as her success ballooned, so has she grown out of touch with the average person, and her songs have consequently become more like glimpses into a life that mere mortals can only dream about. While her pieces continue to feel like blogs or Tumblr posts, Swift controls the narrative by carefully orchestrating not just synths, guitars and lyrics, but also pap walks and delicately timed public appearances.

Unlike Grande, who has mostly avoided appearing with Slater at high-profile events and also hasn’t hidden as many Easter eggs in her songs, Swift has not been afraid to show off and show up for her new partner. She’s not publicity-averse; she seems to anticipate and almost courts it.

With the general strategy around TTPD, like announcing it at the Grammy’s and slow teases of lyrics and cover art, it certainly seems like these days, the billionaire with a private jet problem is more focused on her myth and financial value than the art of songwriting.

Swift surprised everyone at 2AM on April 19 by releasing a whole 15 more songs alongside the initial 16 people were expecting for TTPD. This meant that anyone who pre-ordered the original album would miss out on basically an entire second album worth of tracks and need to spend more. The Swift team also made several versions of the physical album available, like collectors’ editions — all blatant cash grabs designed to maximize revenue.

Grande is guilty of this too, making so many different iterations of “Yes, and?” when that single was released in what seemed like an attempt to place the song at the top of streaming charts. ES also has different versions of cover art for fans to spend their hard-earned money on.

Here’s the thing. Do I care deeply about either of these albums? Nope. Did I eagerly listen to them, hoping to glean insight on their seemingly messy and chaotic relationships? Yes. But despite Swift’s marketing and positioning herself as a poet — and TTPD offering more of a look at her fling with Matty Healy from The 1975 — I realized I just didn’t quite like her album musically. In fact, my favorite Swift songs like “Wildest Dreams” and “Delicate” are beautiful symphonies of atmospheric synths and instrumentation.

Maybe I’m just learning that I care more about music than lyrics. Or maybe I think good songs are a combination of the two and should speak for themselves without having to rely on hype, gossip and marketing tactics. To be fair, that’s true of all art, whether it’s film, photography or poetry. And while the irony of my being sucked into playing TTPD and ES due to the promise of learning about their lives isn’t lost on me, I guess I just wish I could listen to music (and read books and watch movies) without having to worry or be so concerned about the creator’s choices and actions. But in 2024 (and beyond), that seems no longer feasible.

Do you like rip-roaring science fiction books? Do you like movies? Then you are in for a treat in, well, two years. Amazon MGM Studios just set a release date of March 20, 2026 for Project Hail Mary, according to Deadline. It’s based on the Andy Weir novel of the same name, which was one of our favorite books of the past few years, so color us excited.

The film stars honorary SNL cast member Ryan Gosling and will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the duo behind The Lego Movie and, allegedly, most of the good parts of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Lord also wrote a little-known movie called Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

The script was penned by Drew Goddard, who cut his teeth on TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Lost before moving onto features. He directed Cabin in the Woods, which is somehow both iconic and underrated at the same time. If the name Andy Weir sounds familiar, it’s because he wrote a book called The Martian, which inspired the Matt Damon film. Incidentally, Goddard also wrote that script.

I’ve read the book and loved it. It’s more fantastical than The Martian, but still filled with the same science-based solutions to massive life-or-death problems. This time, the entire Earth is on the chopping block, instead of one lone astronaut. It’s also pretty dang funny, just like The Martian, so Lord and Miller are a good match to direct. The pair also signed on to direct an adaptation of another Weir novel, Artemis, but that project looks to have stalled.

Or course, a lot can happen in two years. Here’s to hoping our humble little society keeps clunking along so we can chomp down some popcorn in 2026. Speaking of, that year will also see the release of The Mandalorian & Grogu, the Rey Skywalker film, the sequel to The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Toy Story 5, The Batman Part II and, reportedly, Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. 

The bill that could ban TikTok in the United States inches closer to becoming law. The legislation passed the House of Representatives last month, then had to face the Senate — and opposition from a few prominent lawmakers. The House is to vote on a package of bills this weekend, which includes a slightly revised version of the TikTok bill. In the latest version, ByteDance would have up to 12 months to divest TikTok, instead of the six months initially pitched.

That change alone was apparently key to winning support from some skeptical members of the Senate, including Sen. Maria Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee. What will happen if the bill passes into law? TikTok (and potentially other apps “controlled by a foreign adversary”) would face a ban in US app stores if it declined to sell to a new owner.

— Mat Smith

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Apple says it was ordered to remove WhatsApp and Threads from China App Store

Chinese regulators cited national security concerns.

… and in what you might believe is something of a tit-for-tat move for blocking TikTok, Apple has pulled WhatsApp and Threads from the Chinese App Store. The country’s internet regulator says the removal was required and justified on national security grounds. Apple is always willing to comply, lest it harm relations with one of its largest markets.

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Taylor Swift is joining Threads

At the exact same time as her new album drops.

Taylor Swift has a new album out. Taylor Swift has a new album out.

Taylor Swift has a new album out. Taylor Swift has a new album out.

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Analogue Duo review

A second chance for an underappreciated console.

Tim Stevens for Engadget

Analogue’s latest retro console takes us to the multimedia era with the Duo: a love letter to one of Japan’s most beloved (but niche) consoles, the TurboGrafx-16. It’s a deep cut from a brand that has made its name reviving the most obscure hardware from gaming history. But, as much as you can emulate all of these titles on pretty much any device you have laying around, there’s something different about running it from the original media.

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Netflix is done telling us how many people use Netflix

There’s no penalty for secrecy if you’re a streaming company.

Netflix has always been secretive about how much of its near-limitless library of content is being watched at any given time. Now, the company has said it will even stop disclosing how many subscribers it has to prevent giving Wall Street another stick with which to beat it. Instead, it’ll only drop data when it’s good PR, like crossing the 300-million subscriber threshold, and stick telling everyone how much money it’s making.

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With the Eras Tour still under way and The Tortured Poets Department dropping today, you can't shake off Taylor Swift these days. She's everywhere — in the news, on streaming services and on social media, which now includes Threads. Taylor's Threads account, and her first post, are going live around midnight. And if you're one of the first people to share her post, you'll get a custom badge based on her new album's artwork that you can display on your Threads profile. 

Meta has been dropping hints and releasing easter eggs for Swifties over the past week as part of a countdown for her album release today. You may have even seen its call to pre-follow Swift on Threads, along with the shimmer effect that's been showing up on conversations on the social network with Taylor-related hashtags. Celebratory hearts pop up when you like relevant posts, as well. 

On Instagram, you'll be able to change the background in your DMs with one that's inspired by TPD's artwork. The company told Engadget that the countdown on Taylor's Instagram profile will also reset, and you can apparently expect yet another surprise in-app experience to go live at 2AM ET. 

Netflix has renewed The Witcher for a fifth season, but the company says that will bring the series to an end. The final season will be shot back-to-back with the fourth season, which has just started production. The two seasons will cover the events of the last three books in the series: Baptism of Fire, The Tower of the Swallow and Lady of the Lake. The show is a direct adaptation of Andrzej Sapkowski’s novels, but it does occasionally take inspiration from CD Projekt Red's game adaptations (and vice versa).

The fourth season will mark a significant change for The Witcher, as Liam Hemsworth is replacing Henry Cavill in the lead role. This time around, Geralt of Rivia will find a new family in the Hanza, who will help him track down Yennefer and Ciri after the trio is separated. New cast members who are joining for the fourth season include Laurence Fishburne, Sharlto Copley and James Purefoy.

Comedy Central just greenlit a cartoon based on the classic Sega arcade cabinet Golden Axe, further proving we are in something of a gilded age of video game adaptations. The animated show is getting a ten-episode first season and features a voice cast filled with comedic heavy hitters, like Danny Pudi from Community and Carl Tart from Grand Crew (RIP) and the Comedy Bang! Bang! podcast universe.

It also stars Matthew Rhys, from The Americans and Perry Mason, and comedian Lisa Gilroy. The pilot is being written by Mike McMahon, the creator of Star Trek: Lower Decks and Solar Opposites, and Joe Chandler, a regular writer for American Dad. Chandler is the showrunner and McMahon is on board as the executive producer. Interestingly, several big Sega names are also involved with the show, including Haruki Satomi, Shuki Utsumi and Toru Nakahara, the latter being largely responsible for shepherding the Sonic the Hedgehog cinematic universe.

The plot looks appropriately zany, as there wasn’t too much story in those old arcade cabinets. The show bills itself as a “hilarious and loving homage to Sega’s 1989 video game series” and follows several warriors as they attempt to save the realm from franchise antagonist Death Adder. It does look to be doing a deep dive on the franchise, as one of the characters is the panther/man hybrid beast from Golden Axe III. Comedy Central promises “plenty of exciting cameos” from the fictional world. There’s no release date yet and the show is still in the script-writing stage. Animation takes a long time, so hold your horses.

We’ve really gone from zero to sixty when it comes to game adaptations, right? In just the past year, we’ve had shows based on The Last of Us, Fallout, Twisted Metal and more. There’s also a little-known movie about two Italian plumbers that may or may not have set the box office on fire. A TV show based on another Sega property, Knuckles, premieres April 26 on Paramount+. 

As for Golden Axe, there hasn't been a franchise installment since 2008, though that's about to change. Sega recently announced that its rebooting the property, alongside other classics like Crazy Taxi and Jet Set Radio. 

Motorola has announced the Edge 50 series, a trio of new smartphones that you can opt to buy with a body made out either a pearl polymer finish or with a wood back cover. The Edge 50 Ultra, 50 Pro and 50 Fusion boast the usual features you'd expect from an Android phone, with a garnish of the usual AI showiness.

Take the Edge 50 Ultra, which has a 4500mAh battery with 125W TurboPower charging — allegedly providing enough power for the day in just four minutes. The phone also has the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 Mobile Platform, up to 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. The device also supports Dolby Atmos and Dolby Head Tracking.

Then there's Style Sync, which allows users to "extend their personal style to their device by capturing and uploading a picture of the pattern of their outfit to generate multiple unique images." Basically, it creates wallpapers that match your outfit patterns and color palettes. This tool appears alongside another new feature in which users can describe a picture through a text prompt to get generated images displayed.  

Camera-wise, Motorola claims the Edge 50 Ultra has its most impressive system ever. Many of its features use AI, including adaptive stabilization, auto focus tracking and action shot. There's also the photo enhancement engine, which uses AI to apply shooting modes and finetune pictures for the highest-quality results. Outside of AI-powered tools, users will also have access to long exposure.

According to Motorola, the Edge 50 family are the first smartphones ever to use a Pantone Validated camera. Motorola created it and the display with the help of Pantone's color scientists to meet the latter's "evaluation and grading criteria by authentically simulating the full range" of Pantone Colors and Pantone SkinTone as both appear in the real world. Plus, the Edge 50 Ultra has a 6.67" Super HD pOLED display with 13 percent better resolution than its predecessor.

Motorola is also releasing its new Moto Buds+ with Sound by Bose. They offer active noise cancellation, EQ tuning and compatibility with Dolby Head Tracking. While we don't have an exact date yet for when the Edge 50 family will come to North America, the Moto Buds+ are available in Forest Grey starting today for $130.