{"id":83,"date":"2018-04-22T01:51:39","date_gmt":"2018-04-22T05:51:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus122-14\/?page_id=83"},"modified":"2018-04-29T22:09:05","modified_gmt":"2018-04-30T02:09:05","slug":"t-pain-using-auto-tune","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/blog.richmond.edu\/mus122-14\/t-pain-using-auto-tune\/","title":{"rendered":"T-Pain: Using Auto-Tune"},"content":{"rendered":"

T-Pain\u2019s music is synonymous with auto-tune, as he is famous in the music world for his use of this technology. Faheem Rashad Najm, better known as T-Pain, began his debut with his first album <\/span>Rappa Ternt Sanga <\/span><\/i>in 2005. His success did not come, however, until his 2007 album <\/span>Epiphany<\/span><\/i> that hit number one on the US <\/span>Billboard 200 <\/span><\/i>chart [1].<\/span>\u00a0Along with a series of successful singles, including \u201cBuy U A Drank\u201d, 2007 marked the year that T-Pain achieved legitimate success and began to popularize auto-tune. T-Pain, further, developed auto-tune apps called \u201cI Am T-Pain\u201d and \u201cI Am T-Pain 2.0\u201d. Additionally, T-Pain\u2019s extensive use of auto-tune has brought him onto talk shows such as <\/span>Ellen <\/span><\/a><\/em>to entertain this technology. On top of this, T-Pain released versions of songs that he recorded without auto-tune, such as the acoustic \u201cT-Pain Mashup\u201d<\/a>. This emphasized the prevalence of auto-tune in his musical aesthetic, and raises the question about how specifically T-Pain used auto-tune in his songs and how he impacted both the use of auto-tune and hip hop music.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other popular rap artists of the era, such as 50 Cent and Jay-Z, had a less melodious sound to their music, and employed rapping instead of singing. These artists typically did not expand their vocal range and did not often create music fit for a club\/dance setting. T-Pain, on the other hand, made music that was appropriate for and popular in club and dance settings. His use of auto-tune allowed for a blend of both singing and rapping in his music, giving him a larger expressive range than typical rapping. In songs like \u201cBuy U A Drank\u201d, there is a presence of a more upbeat tempo added to the song, similar to what Cher used it for in 1998. This was done by altering the typical voice and allowing it to flow better with the harmony. This contrasts with typical hip hop as rapping can sound very similar to talking. Similarly, T-Pain combines the differing aesthetics of R&B, Soul and Rap. To compare, Run DMC used a method in their music in which they rhymed at the end of every verse to add rhythmic cadence. T-Pain follows this method to achieve fluidity with auto-tune as he ends every verse in his songs with significant auto-tune presence. This proves that T-Pain did not only influence other artists but also was influenced by those prior to his success. T-Pain revolutionized hip hop in this way, as he aided the transformation of rapping into a form of dance-able music and also fit into several different, yet popular genres [2].<\/span><\/p>\n

While many listeners assume that auto-tune is used to mend vocal imperfections, this is not always the case [3].<\/span> Artists like T-Pain used it for creative purposes. These creative purposes include a wider range, change in timbre, and smoother hooks. Auto-tune technology, therefore, added a robotic and electric spin to the otherwise traditional rap song [4].<\/span><\/p>\n

Example of other rap songs compared to T-Pain: 50 Cent- Many Men<\/p>\n