don’t understand that’s really how you [become successful as an artist]. Don’t give everybody everythang, let ‘em have some kind of mystery about you. That’s why a lot of people haven’t seen me without my shades on. So when I’m ready to take my shades away from the image, they still got something to look forward to, instead of already knowin’ what I look like without shades on. When you started, a lot of people doubted that the auto-tune effect would work for you. Obviously, they were wrong. Are there any “I told you so” moments that stick out in your mind? Any critics that had to eat their words later on? Pretty much everybody. Nobody thought I would get past “I’m Sprung.” Then “I’m In Luv (Wit A Stripper)” came out and they were like, “Okay, this is the last one right here.” Then “Buy You A Drank” came out and they were like, “This gotta be the last one from this nigga with the autotune.” And I just kept coming. Then I started doing all the features with everybody and shit got crazy. Everyone had to eat their fuckin’ words. I had gone to everybody, and every record label and every artist I tried to get on with was like, “Nah, we good.” They didn’t think [the autotune] shit was gonna work. But you know, they couldn’t see the future. So fuck it. Do you think the auto-tune effect is gonna get played out like a lot of the other trends we’ve seen come and go? It’s gonna get played out. It’s gonna come and go after it goes through all the stages. As long as it ain’t the same thing every time, that’s how people get tired of you. If every time they hear you on a song you’re coming with the same thing, using auto-tunes and doing the same rhythms or melodies, they’re gonna get tired of it. Do you think your songwriting and production abilities are something you were born with, or was there something in particular you did to develop yourself as an artist? It’s all about having experiences. If you ain’t got no fucking experiences, there ain’t no reason for you to try to write a song. People can tell when you’ve got a fake-ass song. When you talk about nice cars and you ain’t got no nice car, you’re fucked. People can tell. If you’re singing a love song and you ain’t got no girlfriend, what is you talkin’ about? Do you think a T-Pain hook could resuscitate anyone’s career? Not at all. If you have a history of sucking, then there ain’t shit I can do for you. People ain’t gonna accept it regardless of who it is. It ain’t really nothin’ I can do. If you ain’t gonna be accepted by yourself, ain’t shit I can do for you. Do ever listen to the radio and get tired of hearing yourself? I don’t really listen to the radio so I can’t say that. I’m always listening to a CD. I like to control what I’m [listening to] and niggas like to play a slow song right after a Jeezy song on the radio. They’ve gotta play certain songs [in the playlist] so there really aren’t any mixshow DJs anymore. Who has T-Pain’s permission to use auto-tune? Lil Wayne, Kanye, Diddy, and Timberland. Everybody else can suck my left nut with two lips. Diddy signed a contract sayin’ that I get points on his album just for using the Auto-Tune. Diddy! He’s the biggest, man. This man has a billboard in New York! 58 // OZONE MAG
I heard some of the stuff Wayne is working on for his rock album. Are you looking at going in a different direction as well? Oh yeah, I’ma definitely switch it up. I’m not gonna switch it up hard, I’ma keep it classic T-Pain. If somebody didn’t know who Wayne was, they really wouldn’t know what was going on. But that’s awesome ‘cause he’s bringing in a whole other audience, just like Kanye, so I think it’s great. I’ma just keep mine T-Pain and add different elements like I always do. I don’t want to be cliché and say that Hip Hop is dead, but do you think Hip Hop has lost some of its meaning and become commercial? It’s depends on which Hip Hop. If you’re talkin’ about the music where you had to pick up a dictionary just to listen to a damn song, hell yeah, Hip Hop is dead. But if you’re talking about music in general, then nah, we’re very much still alive. Music is about having fun. It’s not about using every word out of the dictionary. Hip Hop isn’t really lyrical anymore, and the people who grew up in that generation where you had to be lyrical to make a song hate that shit. When you’ve got Soulja Boy selling more than those lyrical niggas now, it’s killing them, and they’re the ones who are saying that Hip Hop is dead. You have two kids now, right? Two and one on the way. Aside from the music thing, what’s your ideal day if you didn’t have to work? All I’d do is chill out, hang with the kids, go buy useless shit at the mall, chill with the family. I buy useless shit like toys and fucking Halloween masks. Dumb shit. Are your kids spoiled? Yeah, but I go in Toys-R-Us and buy shit for my damn self. You gotta have fun. I gotta get all the stuff I couldn’t when I was a young man, a young stallion in the game. What’s up with the Nappy Headz now? I’ve been in Tallahassee for three days and haven’t seen nobody from Nappy Headz. I don’t know what they doin’. Last time I heard they were tryin’ to get back together, but they’re all doing their solo thing too. Do you think your success encourages artists from small cities, like Tallahassee, to know that they can make it too? I don’t think people look at it like that, man, because the level of hate I’ve been gettin’ while I’m here [in Tallahassee] is so crazy. I didn’t even think it was gonna be like that, but I came down here and I’m gettin’ more hate than I do in somebody else’s city. It’s kinda crazy. I mean, I get just as much love, but it’s amazing to see the amount of hate. It’s like people don’t care. People aren’t tryna get motivated or inspired to do anything else with their life or their career. People talkin’ shit, people trying me in the club. Nobody cares if you’ve got money. They think I’m trying to show off, but really, I’m just living my life. I’m enjoying what I’m doing. It’s really just getting bad. Niggas are vandalizing muthafucker’s houses down here just because they know me. You ain’t cool if you know T-Pain. Niggas are trippin’. Niggas try to figure out why I don’t go to Tallahassee much? This is exactly why. So with your label Nappy Boy Digital, you’re experimenting with different ways to release
music digitally, instead of the traditional album-in-stores method, right? I’m not paving the way, I just see where it’s going. All the major record stores like Virgin and Tower are shutting down. It’s getting stupid to the point where you’re starting to wonder where the fuck niggas gon’ buy CDs. The only choice you’ve got is the damn internet. We’re still gonna have physical sales, but we’re mainly focused on internet sales.
“Nobody thought I would get past ‘I’m Sprung.’ Everyone had to eat their fuckin’ words... every record label and every artist I tried to get on with didn’t think [the autotune] shit was gonna work.” Rumor has it that there was a little incident between you and Plies. What’s the situation? I haven’t seen him since the incident so I don’t know if everything’s cool on his side. But I’m just waiting to hear a response. He’s gotta talk to me one day. What was the incident? He basically told his security to get me off the stage when I tried to sing “Shawty” with him [at a show in North Carolina]. His security didn’t [push me off ], but it’s the fact that he told them to do it. He did the same thing to Trick [Daddy] in Orlando. I didn’t believe [Trick] until [Plies] did the same thing to me. So for the sake of Florida unity, you basically want to disregard the situation and move forward? That’s pretty much what I’m doing, but if it comes back again, I’ve gotta address it. I ain’t ‘bout to be a nigga that’s just avoiding the whole shit. It was a major situation. I feel like I had a major contribution in helping this dude. I don’t know how he feels about the shit, but I almost lost my damn career tryin’ to make sure he got [the record] “Shawty.” I was cussing out the president of my label. I basically said, “[Give him the record] and if the shit don’t work, then y’all can drop me.” Oh my God! I’m so glad the shit worked, you know, but I really put my whole career on the line [for Plies]. For yourself as an artist, is it important for you to look out for the people that helped you get on? Yeah, if people helped me out major. But if people gave me $2 to get a cheeseburger [back in the day], they feel like they helped me get on. I had somebody ask me today, “You know Ken, dawg?” I said, “I know a lot of Kens.” He said, “Well he said he’s the one that got you on. He said he helped you out a long time ago.” I’m like, “I don’t remember that. I don’t know nobody named Ken that helped me do that.” If you don’t remember their name they probably didn’t do too much. And niggas get mad at that. I don’t really know, I don’t remember a Ken that helped me out like that. Niggas take the small shit and make it huge. Why did you end up hosting the BET Hip Hop Awards at the last minute instead of Katt Williams? What’s the real behind-the-scenes story with him? That wasn’t even my business. We never had any contact, except for the day after. He was