T-Pain has admitted he slumped into a four-year bout of depression after being told by Usher that he “fucked up music for real singers”.
The rapper made his confession during an appearance on the Netflix documentary series This Is Pop, which was released today (June 22) and invites viewers to “uncover the real stories behind [their] favourite pop songs”.
T-Pain says the incident occurred in 2013, when he was sleeping on a plane en route to that year’s BET Awards. He was awoken by a flight attendant, who told him Usher requested his presence at the back of the plane. There, a reportedly concerned Usher began to criticise T-Pain for his frequent use of Auto-Tune.
Take a look at a clip from the interview below:
“I got up and went back and was like ‘How’s everything going?’ Quick small talk, no big deal,” T-Pain said in the clip.
“He was like ‘I want to tell you something, man.’ I was like, ‘What’s good?’ He sounded real concerned. He was like, ‘Man, you kinda fucked up music.’ I didn’t understand. Usher was my friend. He was like, ‘Nah, man, you really fucked up music for real singers.’
“Literally at that point, I couldn’t listen. Is he right? Did I fuck this up? Did I fuck up music? That is the very moment – and I don’t think I even realised this for a long time – that’s the very moment that started a four-year depression for me.”
T-Pain has endured a series of unfortunate events over the last few years, including the loss of his niece, accusations that he ripped off a Bollywood track, and a tour cancellation due to poor ticket sales.
Last year, he bought out a slanderous website to sell his own merchandise, and shared a new track titled ‘Get Up’ that included an excerpt of a speech by Malcolm X.
This Is Pop is streaming now on Netflix, and features interviews with a range of pop legends, such as Shania Twain, Boyz II Men, Chuck D, Brandi Carlile, Neko Case and ABBA.
The post T-Pain says he slipped into depression after Usher told him he “fucked up music for real singers” appeared first on NME.
