T-Pain's fingerprints are all over pop and R&B and hip-hop. He wasn't the first musician to use Auto-Tune as an instrument — he noticed it on a Jennifer Lopez remix, and remembers "Deep" well — but it was, as he says, his style. For a while, in the mid-2000s, he lived at the top of the charts. He dominated that brief moment of our lives when ringtones were a thing. He was celebrated as an innovator, and he happily took his talents where he was invited, which was everywhere.
But somewhere along the way, somebody got it twisted. "People felt like I was using it to sound good," says T-Pain, in an interview that will air on All Things Considered. "But I was just using it to sound different.”
So, when T-Pain sat down for his NPR Tiny Desk concert, his tone immediately blew every away; slightly hoarse, with a real character to it. Maybe most charming is how coy and nervous T-Pain is about singing without Auto-Tune, seemingly surprising himself as much as anyone who watches. Seriously, watch it ASAP; it's as close as you're ever going to get to seeing a robot come to life and experience the immensity of mortality all at once. Enjoy below!