T-Pain has revealed that he used to get a paycheck every time an artist would use Auto-Tune, admitting those early days of his career were a “crazy” time.
The comments were made alongside DJ Drama on T-Pain’s Nappy Boy Radio podcast, where the former shouted out JAY-Z’s 2009 track “D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)” as one of his best songs.
AD LOADING...
T-Pain obviously had a lot to say about Drama’s pick, considering he’d previously admitted he took the song personally due to his own heavy reliance on Auto-Tune at the time. However, the Florida native admitted that the use of Auto-Tune in music has since “resuscitated” in full force.
“That shit came out of everywhere after that,” T-Pain said at the 34-minute mark. “I don’t think it worked out the way he thought it was gonna work out.”
AD LOADING...
“Is it true that there was a point and time where you got paid off of anytime anyone would use Auto-Tune?” Drama interjected.
“Yeah,” T-Pain said. “Absolutely. It was nuts, it was real crazy. Some people volunteered and some people didn’t know, so that was great. Diddy volunteered. Diddy gave me points on Last Train To Paris ’cause he used Auto-Tune.
AD LOADING...
“It’s on video! I still have the video on a hard drive right now of Diddy writing a contract on a napkin in the studio saying he was gonna give me a point on Last Train To Paris and we both signed it.”
“That’s insane,” Drama replied.
T-Pain previously revealed in an interview with Drink Champs last year that he recorded a “Death of Auto-Tune” remix, telling co-hosts N.O.R.E. and DJ EFN that it was meant to be the intro to his next album at the time.
“I made the record after I did a show in Vegas and everybody in the crowd was like, ‘JAY-Z killed you, bro!’” he said. “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.”
AD LOADING...
While the recording never saw the light of day, Nappy Boy performed the remix in full during the closing show on his Road to Wiscansin Tour last summer, where he could be heard biting back at Hov’s digs using the voice-altering device.
“They tried to get rid of me, now their knees hurt/ Shook! Who say they tryna brawl with Tylenol?/ You know you missed me, you ain’t fucking with them guys at all/ Foot in the dope crack, they say they need mo’ crack/ They asking for pain relief so I guess the boy’s back,” Pain rapped.
He continued: “It gets worse with time/ All the time you spent rehearsing your line, it end up worse than mine/ You thirsty for shine/ Every time I spit a bar I get thirty a line/ Who said they tryna bang with Teddy Pain?/ I’m on everythang, that’s on everythang/ I’m married to the game, get the wedding ring/ I got this shit wrapped, Teddy Cellophane.”
Elsewhere in his sit-down with DJ Drama, T-Pain asked the Gangsta Grillz legend why he thinks Hov chose to villainize Auto-Tune the way that he did.
AD LOADING...
“I think JAY and his career, especially up to that point, he was always known for being someone who touched and changed culture,” Drama said, adding: “I think that was him in a sense of looking at it from a cultural standpoint, but if I was you, I would feel some type of way.”
