T-Pain transitioned to being a rapper/singer after originally following his dreams to be a straightforward emcee. He began to utilize Auto-Tune software to crystallize his sound into something distinctive from that of his contemporaries. 

However, before long, a laundry list of rappers and singers adopted his sound and incorporated it into their own. Kanye West, Lil’ Wayne, Future and Snoop Dogg are prominent amongst them.

Discovered by Akon when he was a member of the rap group Nappy Headz, T-Pain became the focus of a bidding war to sign him, with Akon being the eventual winner after promising to personally mentor T-Pain.

T-Pain signed to Akon’s Konvict Muzik and would go on to found Nappy Boy Entertainment not long afterward. 

Rappa Ternt Sanga, his debut album, dropped in 2005 with the singles “I’m Sprung,” which reached eight on the BIllboard Hot 100 and nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper,)” featuring Mike Jones at his peak, dropped in December 2005 and reached No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.