T-Pain Albums (3)
What The Critics Say
Hated on for his over-the-top appearance, his constant use of the electronic Auto-Tune voice filter, plus guest shots on maybe 30-percent of the R&B or hip-hop singles released during the years 2007/2008, T-Pain is the full package in a sidekick's disguise. Like a garish version of his label boss Akon, he's a singer/songwriter/producer who doesn't evolve much over this avalanche of releases and guest shots, but Thr33 Ringz proves he's much more aware of his limitations. First, there's the long guest list here, featuring high-power names like Lil Wayne, T.I., Kanye West, and Akon himself. Then, there's the album's concept, which finds a series of perfectly polished and unsurprising numbers held together by a circus theme, allowing T-Pain to exploit his "Ringleader Man" persona; hyping every act and stunt while pacing the parade for maximum impact. Three tracks in and Ludacris appears on the good-timing "Chopped N Skrewed" where the Southern style of remixing is mimicked with Luda's excellent sense of humor. The futuristic highlight "Blowing Up" finds Ciara seducing T-Pain with quirky references to techno and electronica plus a rock-solid hook. Shame that the ringleader's weird way of rhyming "mansion" and "Wisconsin" is the high point of "Can't Believe It" since guest star Lil Wayne seems on autopilot. Wait 'til the break-up song "Therapy" and you'll get two Wayne-style lines to choose from with T-Pain offering "1234/Get the hell up out my door/5678/I don't need your sex I'll masturbate" while guest Kanye West gives up "You too much pressure doll/You gonna raise my cholesterol." There's no big finish and Akon's dream of turning "every bullet to a Hershey's Kiss" so we can "eat away our fears" is just one example of why "Change" is awful, but this is an otherwise entertaining example of the gimmick-filled R&B/hip-hop album done right. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
From its title to its more poignant numbers, T-Pain's Epiphany wears the tag line "more mature album" proudly, which it is, sort of, half of the time. The singer, rapper, writer, producer, voicebox abuser, and favorite target of many hip-hop fans is one of the few who could put an effervescent ode to a jiggly stomach ("Some people like booty/And ain't nothing wrong with that/Ain't nothing more groovy/Than when that stomach moving") on an album that dare pimp the word "mature." "Stomach" is not an empowering anthem for thick women, and when the world "nut" appears as a verb, it's easy to remember R. Kelly and his juggling of the sublime and ridiculous. Problem is, T-Pain has a long way to go before he gets anywhere close to Kels' "I Believe I Can Fly." Instead he's got a fat sack of "Thoia Thoing"s with hooks, slick sounds, and shameless lyrics along with the occasionally crafty production twist. Take the futuristic reggae number "Shottas" or the busy "Church," which dares the listener to hang onto its hectic beat. As far as "mature," there's a gripping interlude four tracks in, "I Got It" (the "it" being HIV), and then the ambitious "Suicide," which has more depth and feeling than expected. These vibrant touches and bold moments make the album worth pulling for, but T-Pain's ongoing issue with beating good ideas to death has now extended to just fair ideas. Three alcohol-based numbers, two of which are highlights ("Bartender" featuring Akon and "Buy U a Drank" with Yung Joc) and one that's just filler ("Tipsy"), could have been spread across three albums instead of dropped on one. Plus, Epiphany is overstuffed, with nothing that tops last album's "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper)," and the more mature side never quite gels with the irresponsible party side. All that said, T-Pain is still more misguided than mediocre, which keeps Epiphany from being a failure. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
T-Pain caught Akon's attention when he released a version of "Locked Up" titled "I'm F***ed Up." When Akon heard T-Pain's voice and realized there was more depth to the version than the title implied, he got in contact with the Florida-based "rappa ternt sanga" (who also produces and writes) and signed him to his Jive-distributed Konvict Muzik label. Rappa Ternt Sanga, beyond containing a few strong tracks with plenty of range between them, shows promise. T-Pain has a seductive vocal style (he does sound somewhat similar to his mentor), plenty of effective hooks, and strong productions, but he presses too much when he tries to stick out lyrically. The craziest offense is "Studio Luv," in which he comes out sounding more than a little silly: "you remind me of a brand new saxophone," "your body's like a flute," "do you mind if I pluck up on your strings," "I would stroke your body like I do my keyboard." Another hindrance is the digital vocal processing that pops up as often as water droplets in R. Kelly tracks. Though this factor has brought about plenty of comparisons to Zapp's Roger Troutman (as in the electro-funk classic "More Bounce to the Ounce" and late-'80s slow jam favorite "I Want to Be Your Man"), Troutman used an actual vocoder (which produced a different-sounding effect), and T-Pain winds up sounding more like the Cher of "Believe." Had there been limited use of studio tricks and more guidance (as a new signee to a label with major distribution, T-Pain handles an inordinate amount of the writing and production duties), Rappa Ternt Sanga would've been a more-than-respectable debut. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music Guide
