T-Pain Turns to Ghostwriting (After Country Music Backlash)

T-Pain, the Grammy winner and a day-to-day composer, and singer in the music industry has been a prominent face for over 2 decades.

Being jointly the ancestor of the auto-tune style, as well as the brilliant songwriter of “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin’)“, and “Good Life”, T-Pain’s contribution to hip-hop and R&B has been recognized.

However, in a new disclosure, T-Pain said that he has been ghost writing for country artists and the hate he got from the country music listeners pushed him to do this.

Keep reading to know more about the story.

Reason of Fans Backlash on T-Pain

The use of Auto-Tune a music modification tool was a pivotal factor in the backlash he got on his songs.

At the beginning of the 2000s, T-Pain started out tilting for Auto-Tune, manipulating it to generate a one-of-a-kind timbre that separated him from other artists.

His first record, “Rappa Ternt Sanga“, which dropped in 2005, contains some of his heaviest Auto-Tune usage, a trait which in turn became his signature.

To the growth of the publicity of T-Pain came the opposite.

The key criticizers and audience members of his time noted that the technique was the stabilizing point of his voice and he wasn’t a “real” vocalist.

Critics were often very harsh, to the extent that some of them called him “the worst singer in the world.”

Moreover, the backlash wasn’t limited to critics; some artists criticized him publically regarding the use of Auto-Tune, and even his peers got to the situation.

In addition, critics, as well as the public disapproved of T-Pain’s venture into the country music field.

In 2013, he came together with Florida Georgia Line on their “Cruise” song and got raked over hot coals for it.

This got a strong backlash from country music fans as well as artists. The critics mostly put in racial reasons, scores were ‘country music will be ruined ‘ by T-pain.

T-Pain’s Experience with Country Music Fans

T-Pain confided his recent opinion to Billboard that country music listeners criticized him heavily for his collaboration with FGL (Florida Georgia Line) on 2012 hit single “Cruise”.

This was a great success but with negative criticism by country fans as they did not like him participating in the country genre.

The hate was described as ‘vicious’ and ‘discouraging’ and it made him anxious.

T-Pain clarified recently in an interview. “People think you can sing poorly, but when you use Auto-Tune, you suddenly sound like a divine being. It resembles any effect—a delay, for example.

It’s common knowledge that Auto-Tune wiped out “genuine” vocalists, but in reality, “real” singers use Auto-Tune more frequently than I do—they just use it right.“

T-Pain also claimed that he was notified, due to his race, that he had no position in country music.

T-Pain has been left with a bad taste in his mouth after interacting with country music fans.

He has declared his love for country music, but he is mindful to get back into the genre because of the discrimination and hostility he encountered.

Hatred and hostility have certainly characterized T-Pain’s interactions with country music fans, and, sadly, he is left feeling uncomfortable in a genre he adores.

Impact of Backlash on T-Pain’s Career

The reaction of the public towards T-Pain was about more than just a short-term affront, it had broadly gone past that.

The reproaches and controversy caused a drastic drop in his collaborations with other artists.

People preferred to avoid working with him, rather than risking getting entangled in a row themselves.

Because collaborations with other musicians provided them with the chance to grow professionally and open up.

Apart from that, showing T-Pain at the awards shows did not happen anymore as well as the mainstream award-giving bodies did not take his music into account which added more things to the problems he had.

The criticism and darkness all the time did take a toll on T-Pain’s mental environment, making him feel as if he had made the mistake of being left lonely quiet, depressed, and afraid.

T-Pain has gone on the public record, stating his emotional suffering from this period, alongside a deprivation in his personal and professional affairs.

Therefore, T-Pain reformed his musical motivation and tried various paradigms and techniques to demonstrate once again that he was a renowned singer.

T-Pain’s Decision to Write

Even though he encountered racism and dislike, T-Pain made a conscious choice to write country music.

T-Pain said in an interview with People that while he loved country music, the bigotry that he encountered made him reluctant to work in the genre again.

Nevertheless, he decided to continue creating country music, albeit in the background, saying, “I’ll simply compose the songs and let somebody else get the recognition.”

T-Pain decided to ghostwrite country songs as a means to carry on doing what he loved, away from the limelight.

He wanted to demonstrate that his music was viable even without his name included.

T-Pain revealed in an interview that ghostwriting lets him solely focus on the music instead of his ego or image. “I don’t have to worry about being the artist T-Pain,” he said. All I have to do is create.”

Despite the backlash, T-Pain’s choice to write country music shows his commitment to his art and his love of music.

Through ghostwriting, he is handling to escape the limitations of prejudice and bigotry and carry on making country music.

T-Pain’s Ghostwriting Career

T-Pain, a multi-talented, and accomplished vocalist and songwriter, had a lucrative ghostwriting job, coining many of the hits of several artists featured across different genres.

Even though T-Pain himself is a successful artist he decided to not come to fame for the work he did and has decided to stay behind the scenes writing the tracks for other people without any credit.

T-Pain’s ghostwriting career began in the early 2010s after he faced the backlash from country music community because of his cover versions of their songs.

He began to accumulate hit songs for singers across a diversity of genres like pop, R&B, and hip-hop.

T-Pain named the artists he has collaborated with, including Rhett Akins, Dallas Davidson, Toby Keith, and Florida Georgia Line.

Yet, he chose to keep his efforts confidential after receiving hate mail, drawing similarities to Beyoncé’s experience after the publication of Cowboy Carter. “Beyoncé has the strength to sustain it.”

He said, “I’m not up at that level, so I can’t break through that type of stuff. It’s easier for her to stay in it than for me. I just quit giving credit, even though I continued to do it”.

Since then, T-Pain has written songs for numerous artists, including:-

1. Jake Owen – “Beachin’” (2013)
2. Keith Urban – “Kiss a Girl” (2009)
3. Florida Georgia Line – “Cruise” (2012)
4. Chris Brown – “Kiss Kiss” (2007)
5. The Lonely Island – “I’m on a Boat” (2009)
6. Jamie Foxx – “Blame It” (2009)

Ghost’s writing style of T-Pain can be summarized by the notion of his great punning, catchy hooks, and auto-tune which has become clear until now.

He is exceptional in crafting songs that echo at all levels with his audiences. This makes him a famed ghostwriter in the music industry.

Subsequently, T-Pain has elected to stay anonymous and remain in the shadows. Through this, artists who utilize his ghostwriting services can take credit themselves.

During an interview with Rolling Stone magazine, T-Pain revealed “I don’t want to be the face of it… I’ll just write songs and let other people take the credit.”

T-Pain has been the unsung ghostwriter of many hit songs and his skill continues to influence artists from different genres.

His skill, extraordinary imagination, and unrivaled humility have made him a figure of admiration in the music industry.

The unquestionable proof of his inspiring contributions is the music itself.

Conclusion

1. As T-Pain pointed out, his time inside the local country music field has been incredibly challenging with unfailing racism and hate.
2. Though he is deceasy with hip-hop, he has been deliberatively attacked by skeptics and critics.
3. This decision of T-Pain to Ghostwriting for artists let alone country stars is very evident in the scene.
4. While his ghostwriting career has prospered, regrettably, it remains hidden from the public owing to his apprehension for being exposed to the racism and the discrimination.
5. T-Pain’s story shows us the importance of having more diversity and inclusivity in the country music genre.
6. Also it’s a good lesson for us that the only thing that should matter to us is the music committed by the artists, not their color.
7. He wants to be the one to drive the change, and mighty well create a better place for all asia and artists to work with, without being discriminated.

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