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T Pain
Faheem Najm, more commonly known as T-Pain, is a singer, songwriter, producer and rapper who started his career when he was just 10 years old. The T in his stage name stands for his hometown of Tallahassee. And the Pain represents the difficulties he faced growing up. Beginning his own record label in 2002, Hard & B, he is a true artist that works for what he wants. His lyrics are often about his personal life and he’s known for throwing in catchy phrases and tag-lines. He wows his fans during performances featuring his second passion, dancing, as he boasts "I'm N Luv (Wit A Stripper)!" T-Pain is a multi-dimensional artist with many talents.
Career
T-Pain started off as a mic fiend of the rap group Nappy Headz, who had some success in the early 2000’s, however, he was so sick of hearing all the same sounding music on the radio he was determined to find a new sound. He was picked up by Akon’s Konvict Music imprint after doing an un-official remix of Akon’s “Locked Up.”
With the incorporation of some soulful hand-claps and a towering chorus, T-Pain’s released his first single “I’m Sprung” in 2005. Some people compare T-Pain’s laid-back electro sound with the late Roger Troutman of the group Zapp, which made it obvious that T-Pain had found his new creative sound that he had been trying for.
T-Pain’s second single was entitled “I’m N Luv (Wit a Stripper).” This song is one that dancers love because it is actually not degrading towards them. It is a song that “appreciates strippers” according to T-Pain. With just his first two singles “I’m N Luv” and “Sprung,” he has managed to sell a combined five million ring-tones.
T-Pain came back strong in 2007 producing his new album Epiphany. He made this album more about his creativity as an artist rather than what he thought people would want to hear. With each song you will hear T-Pain’s creative mic work as well as his talents behind the boards. He recorded over forty songs in six months, not all of which received too much play, however, they inspired him. The first single on this album was “Buy U a Drank,” which became very popular. Other tracks on the album like “Shotz,” and “Suicide” each portrayed a different sound and message.
The second single “Bartender” is a story about a guy crushin’ on a cute bartender. T-Pain explained that “sometimes the bartenders are the hottest girls in the club, and guys are always falling in love with them.” ‘Bartender’ plays like an anthem for these guys.
His song “Suicide” has a deep message to youth about how they are killing themselves by “having unprotected sex, driving drunk, selling drugs, all that is ‘Suicide.’ We do a lot of stuff that only has one ending,” exclaimed T-Pain.
T-Pain recently relocated to Atlanta with his wife and daughter for a fresh start after seeing firsthand how drugs can destroy a family atmosphere. His new home features two studios in his large basement. He also gained a new perspective on life and music after traveling the world on tour and seeing how other cultures lived.
Now, T-Pain has been receiving many calls from artists wanting to work with him and feels it is a very exciting time in his life. He has already started working with artists such as: Kanye West, R. Kelly, Britney Spears, and Chris Brown.
Albums
Epiphany (2007)
This most recent album of T-Pain’s was released on June 5, 2007 and debuted on the U.S. Billboard 200 with around 171,000 copies sold in the first week. As of October 10, 2007 the album was certified Gold after selling over 700,000.
Rappa Ternt Sanga (2005)
This is the debut album by T-Pain, released in 2005. The title is a re-wording of the phrase "rapper turned singer,” where he originally wanted to be a rapper, but turned singer instead. It has sold over 800,000 copies. This album peaked at number 33 on the Billboard 200 and had two top ten hits, “I’m N Luv (with a stripper)” and “I’m Sprung.”