Complex Presents: The 25 Greatest Auto-Tune Songs
Last week, we brought you the50 Greatest Vocoder Songs. While that list profiled the best moments in the hardware's history, we figured it would only be right for us to follow it up with a "Best Of Auto-Tune" list since Auto-Tune is like the vocoder's software sister. Now, before you throw your hands up in disgust and start quoting lines from "D.O.A.," hear us out. Yes, way too many artists jumped on the Auto-Tune bandwagon. But that doesn't mean the era was without its merits. And trends never really die (sorry, Hov) as much as they simply fade once the novelty wears off. (For those scoring at home, Auto-Tune officially jumped the Fail Whale whenthis ad aired.) However, for all the backlash over seemingly every artist searching out the "T-Pain effect," the era actually produced a lot of great music. So without further ado,Complex Presents: The 25 Greatest Auto-Tune Songs. So get back to reading, you ain't T-Paining enough.
#25. DJ Class f/ Kanye West "I'm The Shit (Remix)" (2009)
#24. T-Pain "I'm Sprung" (2005)
T-Pain's first major hit, people tend to forget "I'm Sprung," but we always had a soft spot for it. Mainly because it's one of the songs where Pain comes off as more of a sensitive thug who stays cupcaking at home and not the type of guy who falls in love with strippers. Like Pac said, "Rappas ternt sangas get lonely too." Or something like that.
#23. Discovery "Osaka Loop Line" (2009)
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#21. The Game f/ Lil Wayne "My Life" (2008)
Recently, Game told us that "My Life" pretty much carried his album,L.A.X., to platinum sales. It is probably true, but it's also true that Lil Wayne's Auto-Tuned hook pretty much carried this entire song. Wait, does that mean Wayne has Compton on his back?
#20. Bon Iver "Woods" (2009)
#19. DJ Khaled f/ T-Pain, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, & Plies "I'm So Hood" (2007)
Backed by The Runners' bombastic beat, T-Pain made this song a hit with a hook that was simply undeniable. We barely even remember what anyone spit during the verses, but nowadays whenever we put our gold grills up in our mouth we can't help but shout, "I'm so hood!"
#17. B.o.B. "Autotune" (2008)
Although this isn't a real song, but a parody about the overuse of Auto-Tune in hip-hop, it's still great. Even if it's meant to suck, we're so past irony (as in, a rapper who can and does sing fairly well using a pitch correction program to make himself sound bad but still sounding better than a lot of other people who seriously tried to use said program) that we're just impressed at how funny the video actually turned out. Because seriously, ifChappelle's Show had still existed, we suspect this is the exact kind of skit Dave would have made.
#16. Kanye West f/ T-Pain "Good Life" (2007)
Here's to all the haters that were all shocked when Kanye wanted to use Auto-Tune on808s as if he never used that shit before. Also, big shoutout to T-Pain for making the perfect song for the DJ to play in the club when we (purposefully) step on other people's crispy Airs and then have their girl calling us, "Bay-byy!"
#15. Lil Wayne - Prostitute Flange (2007)
Carter IICarter IIIknow
#14. Uffie "Pop The Glock" (2009)
We knowUffie is hot, but honestly, that's not why we started paying attention to her. Back in 2006, she dropped "Pop The Glock" well before the Auto-Tune sound hit its peak and it still reigns as one of the trend's best moments. Our favorite rapping white girl openly paid homage to Audio Two's classic "Top Billin'" and it worked. Feadz production helped lock this as a party anthem for years and even when the video dropped three years later, it still sounded fresh.
#12. Demarco "Duppy Know Who Fi Frighten" (2007)
As can easily be gleaned from the rest of this list, Auto-Tune is usually used to heighten pillow talk or joyous excess, but the Portmore dancehall artiste flipped it into a badman anthem, much to the delight of shottas everywhere: "Shell dung di place if yuh waan step to meeeee." Fuck yo' swagger, Jungle Jesus strike dem with lightning!
#11. Birdman f/ Drake & Lil Wayne "Money To Blow" (2009)
See what we mean about "D.O.A." not killing shit? Despite Jay's rebuff of rappers "T-Paining too much" during the summer of '09, Birdman went ahead and commissioned Wayne and Drizzy to cook him up a banger for his albumPricele$$. Even if Jay gave Weezy a pass, Drake and Wayne both went on that 24-hour Auto-Tune diet for their verses on this one. And someone must have decided, "We gon' be fine as long we put Auto-Tune on every hook." The result was a smash hit that lit up the clubs. Someone tell T-Pain it's still safe to come out.
Cher "Believe" (1998)
Sure, this isn't the type of song you'd expect Complex to co-sign, but we gotta give props where props are due. When Cher dropped "Believe" in '98, it truly was revolutionary. The single—which sold over 10 million copies and was nominated for a Record of The Year Grammy—was the first song to use Auto-Tune, but the song's producers (Mark Taylor and Brian Rawling) tried to keep it a secret. They gavean interview toSound On Sound in which they claimed that they created the "Cher effect" (which most of us refer to as the "T-Pain effect" these days) by using a vocoder and not Auto-Tune. Do you belieeeeeeeeeve in lies after lies after lies?
#9. T-Pain f/ Lil Wayne "Can't Believe It" (2008)
Not only is T-Pain the kinda guy who can become a famous singer who doesn't exactly sing (although he has sung without Auto-Tune on songs like"Low"), he's also the kind of guy who can get away with making up places like "Wiscansin" for the sake of a rhyme. Seriously, he said "Wiscansin" on a song and everyone was all like, "Hey, he's T-Pain. It's whatever."
#8. Kanye West "Heartless"
Say what you like about
#7. G-Unit f/ Young Buck "Rider Pt. 2" (2008)
We were never really sure if 50 was using Auto-Tune because he thought it was dope, or because he thought it would be dope to poke fun at it by using it himself, or because he was desperate to connect with an audience that no longer seemed to be interested in him and his cohorts. Whatever it was, the results were surprisingly effective. In retrospect, the real ironic part of the song is when Young Buck spits, "Even if 50 dropped me I still wouldn't sign." LOL.
#6. Young Jeezy f/ Kanye West "Put On" (2008)
Unlike Jay and Jeezy,
#5. Daft Punk "One More Time" (2000)
Before Kanye sampled Daft Punk's "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," Daft Punk utilized Auto-Tune and the fans loved it. Play it one more time DJ, while we sip on our drinks, and imagine that blue anime chick from the video waiting for us at home. Just kidding!
#4. Lil Wayne f/ Static Major "Lollipop" (2008)
With anticipation forTha Carter III at a fevered pitch, Wayne needed a real banging single (read: pop song) to make sure his album would deliver big first-week sales. With help from Static Major (RIP), Wayne did just that. Everyone from the shorties to the soccer moms was rocking with this joint, and DJs had to bring it back like "berp, berp."
#3. Jamie Foxx f/ T-Pain "Blame It" (2009)
The perfect song to sing along with when you're belligerently drunk and doing stupid shit with your friends at 2 a.m. for no good reason. Just a little FYI—and we're speaking from experience when we say this—"Blame it on the Goose!" isnot the best way to answer a cop when he asks why you were doing 65 mph in a school zone.
#2. Snoop Dogg "Sexual Eruption" (2007)
Here's the thing about Snoop Dogg: He's not just old, he's an OG. Meaning he can do whatever he wants and make it hot. Over the years Snoop D-O-Double-G has co-signed everything from the Neptunes to the Jerking Movement and still effortlessly made great music. So it's no surprise that when Snoop decided to get on the Auto-Tune bandwagon instead of sounding out of touch, he touched on a nerve and made one of the best records of the Auto-Tune era. And to top it off, he even threw in a classic video to seal the deal.
#1. T-Pain f/ Yung Joc "Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin')" (2007)
Don't act so surprised. Youknew T-Pain was going to occupy the top slot in this list. And why not? He's the face of the Auto-Tune movement and "Buy U A Drank" was a gigantic hit. Honestly, this song kinda surprised us: who would've thought millions of women across America were interested in having a man who sounds like a robot and dispenses drinks? Computer love!