Nowadays, people have come to accept T-Pain as a legend in the game. A pioneer. One of the most influential, especially when it comes to that autotune sound. In fact, T-Pain recently released his fifth studio album Oblivion, his first project since 2011. Yet the road to Oblivion was marred by tribulation, and Pain found himself struggling to overcome all types of problems, from financial woes, to depression, to a dependency on alcohol. In a new interview with Gary Vaynerchuk of the AskGaryVee podcast, T-Pain goes in depth about his dark period, sparing no detail. Yet the story has a happy ending, and T-Pain breaks down what helped get him emerge victorious.
In the discussion, T-Pain explains that he struggled with alcoholism for four years, a battle that many rappers face. "Four years I was in a crazy bad place mentally," says Pain, around the 5:44 mark. "Sitting at home, drinking myself to death. It was crazy, it was over the top." However, he did have one person in his corner, helping him overcome his demons. "My wife," says T-Pain. "She was like 'you're great, you got this, you're changing the game, you're making these people uncomfortable, which is why they don't like you."
Yet while his wife's motivational speech proved effective, T-Pain says the severity of his situation only kicked in when he ran out of money. “I had to borrow money to get Burger King. It got that bad. And I still had artists, and stuff. I was paying for photoshoots, and I was borrowing money to do all that.”
If you're a fan of T-Pain, you should definitely check this one out. The king of autotune never fails to entertain, and his blend of optimism, humor, and honesty make him one of the most compelling conversationalists in the game right now. Peep the whole video below, don't sleep on T-Pain.