T-Pain

From HitStory, the pop encyclopedia of School of Rock · Artist

T-Pain is the stage name of Faheem Rashad Najm, an American singer, rapper, songwriter and producer. He was born in 1984 in Tallahassee, Florida. The name stands for Tallahassee Pain, a reference to the difficult time he had there. As a child he already played in a studio belonging to a family acquaintance, and at ten he turned his bedroom into a studio of his own with a keyboard, a drum machine and a four-track recorder. In 1999 he joined the rap group Nappy Headz.

Music and breakthrough

In 2004 he released the mixtape Back @ It. Akon heard an altered version of his song Locked Up and offered him a contract with Konvict Muzik. T-Pain then began to sing instead of rap. In 2005 his first single I'm Sprung was released, followed by the album Rappa Ternt Sanga. The second album, Epiphany from 2007, brought Buy U a Drank to number one in the United States. Thr33 Ringz followed in 2008 and REVOLVE? in 2011. He also sang on other artists' hits, such as Low by Flo Rida and Kiss Kiss by Chris Brown.

Influence

T-Pain is known as the man who made the creative use of Auto-Tune a trademark. He used the software with extreme settings, which gave his voice an electronic, almost robotic sound. That combination of singing, rap and R&B determined how much pop music sounded in the 2000s. In this way he showed that a vocal effect can itself become an instrument.

Listening

Discography

Studio albums

• 2005Rappa Ternt Sanga
• 2007Epiphany
• 2008Thr33 Ringz
• 2011REVOLVEЯ
• 2017OBLiViON
• 2018Everything Must Go, Vol. 1
• 20191UP
• 2023On Top of The Covers
• ?The Bluez Brothaz

In School of Rock

The chapters, maps and magazine stories of School of Rock are currently available in Dutch only.

• Mixtape 9: The Instrument^NL Reader

Mentioned in other articles

• Auto-Tune TechnologyT-Pain made it his trademark, and in trap, afrobeats and hyperpop, Auto-Tune became an ordinary part of the voice.

See also

• 1UP