Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984),[4] known professionally asT-Pain, is an American singer, rapper and record producer. He is known for popularizing creative use ofAuto-Tunepitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to createelectronic-styled vocal performances. Blending its use withR&B andhip-hop sensibilities, T-Pain became a prominent figure in both genres throughout the 2000s.
T-Pain began his recording career as part of the hip-hop group Nappy Headz. He released his debut solo mixtape,Back @ It independently in 2004, and signed withAkon'sKonvict Muzik, in a joint venture withJive Records, the following year. His 2005 debut single, "I'm Sprung", was quickly met with commercial success, peaking at number eight on theBillboard Hot 100 and receivingplatinum certification by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its follow-up, "I'm 'n Luv (wit a Stripper)" (featuringMike Jones), peaked at number five on the chart; both served as lead singles for his debut studio album,Rappa Ternt Sanga (2005). Despite moderate critical and commercial reception, his second album,Epiphany (2007), peaked atop the USBillboard 200 and spawned theBillboard Hot 100-number one single "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" (featuringYung Joc), as well as the top-40 single, "Bartender" (featuring Akon). His third album,Three Ringz (2008), was preceded by the single "Can't Believe It" (featuring Lil Wayne), and his fourth album,Revolver (2011), was preceded by "5 O'Clock" (featuringWiz Khalifa andLily Allen). His fifth album,Oblivion (2017) sustained long-term delays and was met with critical and commercial failure, serving as his final release on amajor label.
Najm was born and raised inTallahassee, Florida, to parents Aliyah, aBahamian chef,[5] and Shasheem, who founded the Homeboyz to Men program.[3][6] Najm was brought up in aMuslim household, but he has expressed his lack of interest in the concept of religion.[7][8] At three years old, he got his first taste of the music business when a friend of the family, gospel jazz artist and producerBen Tankard, allowed him to spend time and "twist the knobs" at his recording studio. At age ten, Najm turned his bedroom into amusic studio, using a keyboard, a beat machine, and a four-track recorder.[9][10]
T-Pain joined the rap group Nappy Headz in 1999. Through a mutual connection with music promoter TJ Chapman, he was discovered byRocco Did It Again! and Mike Blumstein—co-founders of the independent record label Chase Entertainment—to whom he signed.[11] His stage name is short for "Tallahassee Pain", and was chosen because of the hardships he experienced while living there.[8] He released his debut mixtape,Back @ It in 2004, and later released the song "I'm Fucked Up", a slightly altered cover version ofAkon's then-popular 2004 single, "Locked Up". Akon himself came across the song and immediately offered T-Pain a deal with his label,Konvict Muzik.[12][13] While T-Pain was offered other record deals, with the highest-bidding being US$900,000, Akon promised the young artist a personal mentorship in the industry. Meanwhile, Blumstein and Rocco remained involved in T-Pain's careers as joint co-managers.[14] Afterward, T-Pain began singing instead of rapping, and used this inspiration to begin recording for his debut studio album,Rappa Ternt Sanga. Released on December 6, 2005, through a joint venture withJive Records,[3] the album reached number 33 on theBillboard 200, and has since receivedgold certification by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The album was supported by T-Pain's debut commercial single, "I'm Sprung", which was released in August 2005 and peaked at number eight on theBillboard Hot 100, as well as number nine on theHot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Its follow-up, "I'm 'n Luv (wit a Stripper)" (featuringMike Jones), served as the album's second single; it was released in December of that year and peaked at number five on the former chart,[15] and number ten on the latter. The third and final single from the album, "Studio Luv", was released in October 2006 and failed to chart.
T-Pain performing at the 2007Hot 97 Summer Jam concert.
In mid-2006, T-Pain began work on his second album, now with theZomba Label Group as well as his previous labels. The album, titledEpiphany, was released on June 5, 2007. The album sold 171,000 records in its first week, reaching number one on theBillboard 200.[16] The record has since sold 819,000 records in the United States.[17]
The album was preceded by the lead single "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" (featuringYung Joc), released in February 2007. The song reached number one on both the Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first to peak atop both charts. The album's second single, "Bartender" (featuring Akon), was released in June 2007 and reached number five on the Hot 100 and number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third and final single from the album, "Church", was released in October 2007 and failed to chart in the United States.
Speaking in May 2007 to Pete Lewis ofBlues & Soul about his reason for naming his second album 'Epiphany', T-Pain stated: "One of the two dictionary meanings of epiphany is 'a sudden moment of insight or revelation'. And to me the title 'Epiphany' signifies the moment I realized that, to make the best music I can, I needed to just go in the studio and be myself, and not concentrate so hard on following other people's formulas."[18] While promoting his second album, T-Pain made guest appearances on multiple songs by other artists. T-Pain was featured on "I'm a Flirt" (remix) byR. Kelly, "Outta My System" byBow Wow, "Baby Don't Go" byFabolous, "I'm So Hood" byDJ Khaled, "Shawty" byPlies, "Kiss Kiss" byChris Brown, "Low" byFlo Rida, and "Good Life" byKanye West.[19] For two weeks in late 2007, T-Pain was featured on four top ten singles simultaneously on the Hot 100 chart.[20]
In 2007, T-Pain began work on his third album,Three Ringz with Rocco Valdes, Akon, andLil Wayne. The album was also his first under his newly launched label,Nappy Boy Entertainment. Released on November 11, 2008,[24] the album sold 168,000 records in its first week and reached number four on theBillboard 200. A mixtape,Pr33 Ringz, was released in early 2008 for the album's promotion.
T-Pain in 2008.
Three Ringz was preceded by three singles; its lead single, "Can't Believe It" (featuring Lil Wayne), was released in July 2008 and reached number seven on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album's second single, "Chopped 'n' Skrewed" (featuringLudacris), was released in September 2008; it reached number 27 on the Hot 100 and number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third and final single from the album, "Freeze" (featuring Chris Brown), was released in October 2008; it reached number 38 on the Hot 100 and number 39 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Guest appearances onThree Ringz includeT.I., Lil Wayne, Ludacris, DJ Khaled,Ciara, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others.[25]
In 2008, T-Pain continued to guest perform on numerous singles, such as "She Got It" by2 Pistols, "Go Girl" by Ciara, "The Boss" byRick Ross, "Cash Flow" byAce Hood, "Shawty Get Loose" byLil Mama, "One More Drink" by Ludacris, and "Go Hard" by DJ Khaled. T-Pain and Ludacris collaborated to perform "Chopped 'n' Skrewed" and "One More Drink" on American late-night television programsJimmy Kimmel Live! onABC in November 2008 and onNBC'sSaturday Night Live in the same month. T-Pain appeared again onSNL in February 2009 (season 34, episode 15, hosted byBradley Cooper with musical guestTV on the Radio) as a feature in theDigital Short premiere ofThe Lonely Island's single, "I'm on a Boat," off their albumIncredibad. T-Pain also supported the album in 2009 with hisThr33 Ringz Tour, which included sold-out shows across North America. T-Pain and Lil Wayne formed the duo T-Wayne in 2008.[26] The duo released a self-titled mixtape in late 2008; it charted on theBillboard 200 in January 2009.[27] Their debut album was going to be released in 2009, but never was.[28]
He collaborated withTaylor Swift for theCMT Music Awards, performing "Thug Story", aparody of Swift's hit single "Love Story".[29] In an interview withMTV, T-Pain announced that he would release his fourth studio album in November 2009 and that its title would beUBER.[30] He stated that although he originally wanted to release the album in the summer of 2010, his label had pushed the release forward. However, the album was not released in 2009.
AniPhone application called "I Am T-Pain", featuring anauto tuner, allowing fans to record and modify their own voice to accompany an instrumental collection of T-Pain's music, was released in September 2009.[31] In July 2009, T-Pain endorsed the 2009 T-Pain Killa Cam-Pain, a grassroots effort to help him become elected aspresident ofFlorida State University.[32]
In November 2009, T-Pain released the first single from his fourth studio album, "Take Your Shirt Off".[33] The single only managed to reach number eighty on the Hot 100, and was later dubbed a promotional single. In February 2010, he released "Reverse Cowgirl" (featuringYoung Jeezy), which was the official lead single from his fourth studio album.[34] He later release an updated version of the song excluding Young Jeezy's verse and adding a new bridge. The single reached number seventy-five on the Hot 100 and number sixty-four on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming a mild hit. The single has since been dubbed a promotional single. T-Pain was later featured on the "We Are the World 25 for Haiti" single in February 2010, which reached number two on the Hot 100.[35] In March 2010, T-Pain developed and starred inAdult Swim's animated musical special,Freaknik: The Musical.[36]
T-Pain released a mixtape on his Nappy Boy label in February 2010,T-Pain Presents: Nappy Boy All Stars Vol.1, which contained remixes of songs including "Forever" byDrake.[37] On May 5, 2011, he announced another mixtape,Prevolver, serving as a predecessor to his album.[38] The mixtape including collaborations from artists such as Lil Wayne andField Mob. In June 2010, T-Pain confirmed that his fourth studio album, now titledRevolver, had been completed and mastered, but that it would not be released until album sales increase.[39] T-Pain's first feature film,Lottery Ticket, was released on August 20, 2010.[40] In October 2010, T-Pain release his third promotional single, "Rap Song". The song charted poorly, peaking at 89 on the Hot 100.
T-Pain was featured on the first single by DJ Khaled called "Welcome to My Hood" off his 2011 albumWe the Best Forever. The song featured him along with Rick Ross, Plies, and Lil Wayne. He was also featured on albums such as Drake'sTake Care, Lil Wayne'sTha Carter IV, andTech N9ne'sAll 6's and 7's. A new toy called "iAm T-Pain Microphone" was released in 2011, at the price of $39.99.[citation needed] On January 29, 2011, T-Pain was featured on Italian DJBenny Benassi's song "Electroman", released as the third single in thealbum of the same name.[44] In January, JRandall released a single, "Can't Sleep", featuring T-Pain. On March 22, 2011, the next single fromRevolver, "Best Love Song" (featuring Chris Brown), was released.[45] OnTwitter, T-Pain stated that he would release his mixtapePrevolver when he got 500,000 followers and release his albumRevolver when he got 1,000,000 followers.[46] Also in 2011, he appeared on another Adult Swim series: the sixth-season premiere episode ofSquidbillies, performing a version of the theme song in addition to the original song "(I Like) Drivin' In My Truck" withUnknown Hinson; this song was released in 2012 as part of the free digital albumThe Squidbillies Present: Music for Americans Only Made by Americans in China for Americans Only God Bless America, U.S.A. on the Adult Swim Music website.[47]
On October 7,RCA Music Group announced it was disbanding Jive Records along withArista andJ Records. With the shutdown, T-Pain (and all other artists previously signed to these three labels) would henceforth release all material (includingRevolver) on theRCA Records brand.[48][49] The albumRevolver was eventually released in December 2011, alongside the transatlantic Top 10 single "5 O'Clock", which featuresLily Allen and Wiz Khalifa.[50]
On April 1, 2013, after the announcement of T-Pain cutting off his signature dreads, he announced the title of his fifth studio album, then entitledStoicville: The Phoenix stating, "To me, a Phoenix represents new beginnings. A new era, a new life, I'm rising from the ashes."[51] Prior to releasing his fifth studio album, he releasedT-Pain Presents Happy Hour, a greatest hits compilation. Its first single, "Up Down (Do This All Day)" (featuringB.o.B), produced byDJ Mustard, was officially released on August 13, 2013.[52] The song peaked at number 62 on theBillboard Hot 100. The second single "Drankin Patna" was released a year later on July 21, 2014.[53] On November 7, 2014, T-Pain premiered the intro and title track off ofStoicville.[54] On November 21, 2014, T-Pain premiered "Coming Home" as the first promotional single in support ofStoicville and made it available for free on his official website.[55]
On June 8, 2015, T-Pain released a song titled "Make That Shit Work" (featuringJuicy J).[56] Following another delay, T-Pain confirmed the album was still on its way, missing its December 11 expected release date to further delay. On December 9, 2015, to mark the one-year anniversary of the most popular Tiny Desk Concert ever and the 10th anniversary of his debut album,Rappa Ternt Sanga, T-Pain performed a short set of some previous hits, along with a cover of "A Change Is Gonna Come" and the premiere of a new song, "Officially Yours".[57]
On October 27, 2016, T-Pain premiered "Dan Bilzerian" (featuringLil Yachty).[58] He worked withBruno Mars on his third studio album,24K Magic, as one of the writers on the track "Straight Up & Down".[59]
After teasing the release of a long-shelved collaboration project with Lil Wayne,T-Wayne was released on May 18, 2017, via T-Pain'sSoundCloud for streaming and free digital download.[60][61] It consists of eight tracks recorded in 2009 described as "lost demos".[62] In 2017, he collaborated with Italian rappersJ-Ax andFedez for the single "Senza pagare", from the albumComunisti col Rolex.[63] After numerous delays and project name changes, T-Pain's fifth albumOblivion was released November 17, 2017.
In February 2024, T-Pain acknowledged that he hadghostwritten music forcountry singers includingRhett Akins,Luke Bryan, andDallas Davidson while living inNashville, Tennessee, for two years, but said that he preferred not to be credited on country songs because of the racism he experienced in the country music industry.[71]
On September 24, 2009, T-Pain joined with iPhone app creatorSmule to create a new app entitled "I Am T-Pain" to enable people to use his style ofAuto-Tune inkaraoke; it was released the following day.[72]
T-Pain was the champion of thefirst season of theFox reality music competitionThe Masked Singer as "Monster".[76] He returned as a guest panelist in the sixth episode ofseason 3.
Since 2018, T-Pain has been the host ofT-Pain's School of Business, a documentary series airing onFuse in which T-Pain travels around the United States meeting with different entrepreneurs. The series has aired for two seasons so far: the first in 2018, which had six episodes, and the second in 2019, which had eight episodes.[77]
T-Pain defined in 2005 his own music style as "Hard & B", a play onR&B.[79] In 2024, T-Pain said thatcountry andgospel music were major influences on his music.[80]
Musically, T-Pain is best known for popularizing the use ofAuto-Tune, a pitch-correcting audio processor, for vocals, with the effect turned up to give the voice a robotic quality. He has used this effect throughout his singing career, starting in 2003.[82] This use of Auto-Tune had been pioneered byCher in her successful 1998 single "Believe".[83] T-Pain, who had been looking for a way to make his voice sound unique, was inspired to use Auto-Tune after hearing theDarkchild remix of the 1999 song "If You Had My Love" byJennifer Lopez, which makes occasional use of the effect.[84] He was also inspired in part by a similar sound achieved byRoger Troutman in the 1980s (using atalk box) andTeddy Riley in the 1990s (using both talk boxes andvocoders).[82]
After the success of T-Pain's first two albums, his use of Auto-Tune was replicated by a number of hip-hop artists, includingSnoop Dogg on the 2007 single "Sensual Seduction",[85]Lil Wayne on the 2008 single "Lollipop",[86]Kanye West on the 2008 album808s & Heartbreak (on which T-Pain served as a consultant),[87]the Black Eyed Peas on the 2009 single "Boom Boom Pow", andDiddy – Dirty Money on the 2010 albumLast Train to Paris. In a November 2008 interview, T-Pain revealed that Diddy had paid him for the right to use Auto-Tune in T-Pain's style on the then-upcomingLast Train to Paris, and he felt that other artists should do the same.[88]
In 2009,Jay-Z released the single "D.O.A. (Death of Auto-Tune)", which criticized the practice. The song directly mentioned T-Pain, with the lyrics "You niggas singing too much/ Get back to rap, you T-Paining too much."[89] Jay-Z has insisted that the song was not a personal attack on T-Pain, and that he was simply criticizing a trend that he felt had run its course. T-Pain has said that he loved the song.[30] However, he felt personally hurt by a general backlash against the use of Auto-Tune that began at around the same time.[84] Nevertheless, he has continued to use Auto-Tune, feeling that it is simply part of his musical style, as opposed to jumping on a trend as was the case for other artists.[84]
T-Pain has been married to Amber since 2003. They have three children: one daughter, Lyriq, and two sons Muziq and Kaydnz Kodah (born May 2009).[90][91]
On March 27, 2009, T-Pain was involved in agolf cart accident, the same day he was due for a music video shoot forLil' Kim's song "Download". He suffered cuts, bruises, and four missing teeth and had emergency dental work done. He returned to performing two days later.[92]
On April 1, 2013, T-Pain revealed that he had cut off his iconicdreadlocks, stating "We must all learn to adjust with our surroundings. Those who get stuck doing the same things for too long are bound to get left behind the strong who press on & reinvent themselves. Also good news hair grows back."[93]
On August 30, 2016, T-Pain's niece, Javona Glover, was stabbed to death in a localWalgreens store in his hometown ofTallahassee.[94] In 2017, a suspect in the case was found dead in an apparent suicide.[95]
T-Pain is an avidgamer who regularlystreams onTwitch.[97] He joined the platform in 2015 and as of 2025 has 1 million followers on the service, while holding numerous events in collaboration with the platform.[98] He is friends withCr1TiKaL, having appeared in his streams occasionally and stood in for him in a single video (while Cr1TiKal humorously feigned retirement) in 2025.[99] He has manytattoos, some of which areinternet memes or otherwise Internet-related.[100][101]
On April 28, 2007, T-Pain refused to shorten his performance atRadio One's Spring Fest Concert inMiami, which caused police presence to increase backstage. After concert officials aborted his performance of "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')", police chased him and his entourage off-stage and out of the premises and detained them.[102]
In June 2007, a warrant was issued for T-Pain's arrest for driving with a suspended license. He subsequently turned himself in to the Leon County Jail on November 2, 2007. He was held without bail, but was released three hours later.[103]