JAY-Z famously delivered a eulogy for Auto-Tune on his 2009 The Blueprint 3 track “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune).” Although Hov claimed he wasn’t taking shots at any particular artist, the song was widely perceived to be a diss aimed at the audio processor’s most prominent adopter, T-Pain.
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During a recent appearance on REVOLT’s Drink Champs podcast, Teddy Pain revealed he wrote and recorded a JAY-Z diss track in response to “D.O.A.”
When asked by Drink Champs co-host N.O.R.E. if he picked up the pen to answer back, the Tallahassee native replied, “I did. It was going to be the intro to my next album.”
T-Pain went on to explain he recorded the track — the title of which he doesn’t remember — following a concert in Las Vegas, where he faced obnoxious fans heckling him over JAY-Z’s anti-Auto-Tune anthem.
While he acknowledged that the idea of taking on Hov in a lyrical battle was “crazy,” dealing with a rude crowd, coupled with a night of heavy drinking, fueled T-Pain’s desire to clap back.
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“I made the record after I did a show in Vegas and everybody in the crowd was like, ‘JAY-Z killed you, bro!'” he recalled at the 18:50-minute mark. “I was like, ‘All right, I’m never doing shows again!’ And it’s all, like, bros, it’s all white boys with their shirts off and shit. ‘JAY-Z, it’s the Roc, bro. Fuck you, bro!’
“I ended the show early and then I just tried to drink myself to death … I was just ready to go, man. I went in the studio and started recording the record.”
Obviously, T-Pain’s JAY-Z diss song has never been (and probably never will be) released — thanks to his management team stepping in.
“I don’t even think I finished it,” he said. “Because my manager came into the booth while I was doing it and it was like, ‘Let’s just stop. All right, now you’re doing too much.'”
T-Pain Went Into Depression After Usher Said Auto-Tune ‘Fucked Up Music’
T-Pain later recalled running into JAY-Z numerous times after “D.O.A.,” including the time he offered Hov an awkward apology at a Grammy Awards afterparty.
“I had two cups of Hennessy, so I couldn’t shake his hand,” he said. “I wanted to say two things and they collided. I wanted to say, ‘Thank you for everything,’ but also, ‘Sorry about the confusion.’ And I fucking said, ‘Sorry for everything.’”
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Apparently, Jay rubbed T-Pain on the head and told him, “It’s all good, bro.”
Elsewhere during his Drink Champs interview, Teddy Verseti talked about how he discovered Auto-Tune, his relationship with Usher and his influence on music.
Watch the full conversation above.
