T-Pain

"Idiot savant for chintzy r&b" strikes me as distinctively compliment-like, or at least I would use it as such. I think what he was trying to say is that T-Pain isn't as convincingly sexy as R. or T.I.

But that's not necessarily a bad thing.

And he didn't call T.I. a sex fiend, merely "suave". But he doesn't have R. Kelly's reputation, which is a good thing. I certainly wouldn't want R. Kelly's reputation, that's for sure.

I'm going to stop arguing about other people's semantics right now.

On first look, that's definitely seems like a compliment, but when I read the piece again, it seems like it's just questioning his validity as a guest-spot go-to-guy...The two most negative parts for me are the "but has T-Pain really earned this?" line and the complaint about his ever-present autotune.

i don't get why people have problem with the autotune.
what's the difference between animal collective or battles using vocal effects and t-pain using a vocal effect? is the fact that he's using it to get in tune that much of a bigger deal? they are both a mean to get to an end the way i look at it.

The first time I saw the video for "Buy You A Drank" I asked my friend "who is this?" but before he could reply T-Pain answered "I'm T-pain."

And T-Pain's the best part of "I'm a flirt." And that new song about him falling in love with the bartender is pretty good. But none of it really leaves me wanting more.

TS: I know I said I was done with this, but you pulled me back in, damn you. The "but has T-Pain really earned this?" bit strikes me as questioning not T's validity as a guest-spot go-to guy, but his validity as a sex symbol, which R. & T.I. both had firmly established, but T (mind you this is before we heard "Buy U a Drink" or "Bartender") seemed kind of this dorky guy who falls in love with strippers, and, in his own words, looks like the neighborhood weed man. I was kind of getting at the same thing with my "no one calls you that" line. The remarks about the autotune strike me more as humorous commentary than as complaints. He doesn't necessarily say electronic glissandos are bad.

Jordan: I agree, but I don't understand why many people assume he's using the autotune for the purposes of pitch correction. It seems patently obvious to me that he uses it for a deliberately unnaturalistic effect.

ablaeser: I'm kind of at the same spot regarding T-Pain. I like a lot of what I hear, but not so much that I want to invest myself in him.

reverend: i think in a lot of t-pain songs there become points (maybe a note or two or three) where he becomes punishingly in tune (the line in "i'm a flirt" that i brought up earlier is a example of this), and i'm not sure he could actually do that if he wanted to.
which isn't to say that he isn't using autotune to be unnatural— he obviously is— just that that process also brings him to being in tune at points as well.

also, CAN WE PLEASE TALK ABOUT "SHAWTY"? THIS SONG IS OWNING MY LIFE RIGHT NOW.

I like it when T-Pain says "shawty" in "Flirt." It's one of the best moments in the song for me...He stops playing dominant flirter and instead becomes Mr. Sweet 'n' Seductive...Instead of "Hey Shawty! Get in my bed!", it's "Hey Shawty? Can I talk to you? If you don't mind me saying so, you look mighty stunning tonight."

And Rev, maybe Bieritz will weigh in?

"Hey Shawty? Can I talk to you? If you don't mind me saying so, you look mighty stunning tonight."

not only that, but then he goes, "i'm feelin' yo body and i'm hopin' you feel the same," which is by miles the most human and relatable sentiment in that whole song.

i'm still astounded by people who don't recognize that t-pains humanity is the most valuable part of the song (in a beguiling way for him, even) when compared to t.i.'s greasiness ("i'm tryna catch a glance up her skirt") and kelly's (typical) pompousness in

btw Jordan, not to change subjects, but is Mizzou Journalism worth it?

daaaaaaaaaaamn 28's!

my view on mizzou journalism (after one year completed) is this:

the classes themselves— history of journalism, principles of journalism, cross-culutural journalism (aka are you racist?)— are based basically on common sense and aren't that valuable or informative (generally), but the name cache that mizzou carries in the journalism world is pretty invaluable. not to mention the connections available (village voice reps come to the school every year for internship purposes, etc. and i know plenty of people with internships and jobs at usa today or with the AP, etc.).

and i think if you really want to write as a career, the competitiveness here is probably unmatched around college campuses in the sense that, there are so many really good and ambitious writers here that you cant help but step your game up, so to speak.

Thanks for sharing...I don't think I'm going to go to the J-School (but I change my mind all the time).

My goal is to become a semi-successful director, so I don't plan on working as a full-time writer...I just want freelance work, and I'm already doing that (though I'm always worried that my age is helping me get these jobs). But Mizzou would be free, and everywhere else is not :(

the thing about writing as a profession (obviously) is that you don't need a j-school degree to do it (the same could be same for directing, i guess), plus if you came here and decided you want to go to the j-school you could always apply after your freshman or sophomore year or whatever.

I like it when T-Pain says "shawty" in "Flirt." It's one of the best moments in the song for me...He stops playing dominant flirter and instead becomes Mr. Sweet 'n' Seductive...Instead of "Hey Shawty! Get in my bed!", it's "Hey Shawty? Can I talk to you? If you don't mind me saying so, you look mighty stunning tonight."

Definitely. I like that his POV in his songs doesn't necessarily take his playaness for granted.

And Rev, maybe Bieritz will weigh in?

Does he post here? I've never noticed him doing so.

there's a lot of really interesting stuff happening on this album.
besides t-pain's voice obviously, stuff like the percussion on "time machine" seems really forward-thinking for a modern hip-hop/r&b record to me almost in like a fiery furnaces or similar kitschy (not in a bad way) indieish pop way to me. i also love it on "shottas" when they run kardinal offishal and cham's voices through the auto-(un)tune.

is t-pain the animal collective of r&b?

also i love that they sequenced "buy u a drank" in the 3rd quarter of the album rather than having it be the standard second song or whatever. by the time it comes around it functions almost as a victory lap, like you've just listened to over half a really enjoyable t-pain album and then oh shit it's the most successful and eponymous pop song of the year... gone in a blink if you aren't paying attention.
that this album can do that to "buy u a drank" is a pretty great testament to it's surprisng enjoyability i think.

and by eponymous i of course mean inescapable but i can't think of the word that is kind of like eponymous.

You have convinced me.

im REALLY into the joe budden/t-pain track "can't control it," but i really eat up anything joe does

i brought this up in this thread a while ago, but since it might just be a regional hit it got no response, but the plies and t-pain song "shawty" is one of my favorite singles of the year.

(You have convinced me.

-- The Reverend, Wednesday, 4 July 2007 16:32 (2 hours ago) Link

sarcasm is undetectable over the internet (?))

(I thought it was sincere)

Not sarcasm. You have convinced me that I should get his album.

ah ok. i'm too cynical for my own good rev...

i also love that this whole album is basically ambiguous enough that the whole thing could be about his wife... going to do 69 with her, admiring her stomach, doing it in the backseat, etc.

"Buy U A Drank" is terrible, the weak harmonies and barely there beat and a chorus that borrows from at least 3 different hits from the past year ("Money In The Bank," "Snap Ya Fingers" and "Zoom").

Al, I like the harmonies in it.

Yeah, that's basically a description of everything that makes the song tick.

BAN "FEATURING T-PAIN"

Nothing against dude, but enough already.

However, more "T-Pain Featuring" please

^^^esta

don't really understand that sentiment given the quality of most of the guest spots on Thr33 Ringz

is t-pain the animal collective of r&b?

― Jordan Sargent, Wednesday, July 4, 2007 8:45 AM (1 year ago)

Sentiment is more just that T-Pain songs are usually good, whereas songs feat. t-pain are usually bad. Not meant to comment on guest spot quality.

don't fully agree, but he's definitely more consistent as a solo artist than as a for-hire hitmaker

Although "Never thought I'd be on a boat" is just about the only funny line in "I'm On a Boat"

is t-pain the animal collective of r&b?

― Jordan Sargent, Wednesday, July 4, 2007 3:45 AM (1 year ago) Bookmark

omfg

i hope i was joking but i probably wasn't >:(

remember the Epiphany rickroll?

Is panda bear the t-pain of animal collective?

aaaanyway, i love thr33 ringz a lot and i think shipley is tripping talking about what he does w/ his guests on the album. i mean the point of them is to be integrated into his "circus" right? none of the guests are outstanding (though i think many like ciara and chris brown are very good) but they don't have to be

Two reasons why I love T-Pain in 2009:

Sophia Fresh's album is gonna be craaaaaaaaazzzzzzzyyyyyyyyyy

the "blame it" video is hysterical

Although "Never thought I'd be on a boat" is just about the only funny line in "I'm On a Boat"

― Bonobos in Paneradise (Hurting 2), Thursday, February 26, 2009 12:04 AM (9 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I thought that at first but "never thought I'd see the day when a big boat comin' my way" is my favorite part now

aaaanyway, i love thr33 ringz a lot and i think shipley is tripping talking about what he does w/ his guests on the album. i mean the point of them is to be integrated into his "circus" right? none of the guests are outstanding (though i think many like ciara and chris brown are very good) but they don't have to be

― J0rdan S., Thursday, February 26, 2009 12:57 AM (8 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

yeah, i'm not saying the guests were really a problem on the album (Luda and CB and Kanye and lol Khaled are great on it and "Reality Show" is my favorite song), i just generally prefer the stuff with no guests on the first 2 albums.

the whole HIV bit on Epiphany is a bit shit.

don't fully agree, but he's definitely more consistent as a solo artist than as a for-hire hitmaker

― Carles Jr. (some dude), Wednesday, February 25, 2009 11:58 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

thought you were not fully agreeing that t-pain is the animal collective of r&b

well the key difference there is that I've actually heard T-Pain's music

http://twitter.com/joncaramanica/status/8471854830

http://www.thefader.com/2015/09/29/t-pain-interview

https://concerts1.livenation.com/event/00005311D658739A
"acoustic tour"

listening to the new album. feels weirdly dated.

Yeah I got the same vibe.

Definitely doesn't lack for effort, but it's a mess. The loud, busy, shouty stuff just doesn't flatter him at all, really wish he'd return to smooth finger-snap jams again.

there's a song called "pussy on the phone" in which he asks you to "put your pussy on the phone"

lol yeah his songwriting isn't as sharp as it used to be

When rapper T-Pain purchases Wrigley's Doublemint, Juicy Fruit, or Big Red chewing gum, I bet you he chooses a Plen-T-Pak.

1UP is so good
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A28FpQb_A_8

Maybe this was discussed in another thread but he was on that Masked Singer show, and the dude can SING! He seemed so excited to show that he could sing without Autotune.

he's always been able to sing!

Apparently! :)

seen him live twice; he's a killer concert artist.

to DJI:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIjXUg1s5gc

which is talked about upthread but worth posting again obv

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Q3ojqDsRg
lol

if you ever wanted to hear him do a (pretty faithful) cover of "war pigs," now's your chance
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i4nMjyT4epA

a fine performance, but that is one of the worst kick drum sounds i've ever heard

the sound is truly awful lol

yeah and the gospel-y organs that come in are a fine idea but suffer a bit in the execution

T Pain himself sounds good, but the production is garbage. i can't believe people are flipping out over this, i guess those few that hadn't already realized Pain was kinda great maybe?

i just think he sounds great. but I did already know he was great, and could sing with or without auto-tune.

Dr Hook cover sounds more like his traditional sound