T-Pain's new mixtape, The Iron Way, has been very well-received, and anticipation is higher than ever for the singer's upcoming album, Stoicville. Pain sat down with Vulture to answer some questions on his new project, talking about how he chose the songs for the record, what the hell happened to the Aaliyah collaboration that was meant to appear on it, and how he feels about the use of auto-tune today.
The auto-tuned crooner also accidentally revealed that his friend FKA Twigs is engaged to her boyfriend Robert Pattinson, which should be a huge gossip column story today.
Check out some excerpts from the interview below. You can read the full thing over at Vulture.
On the song selection for his mixtape:
A lot of these were brand-new. I made songs just for this project. I went to [mixtape host] DJ Drama to see what his thoughts were on doing a mixtape. He came to me and said, "Yo, do you wanna do a Gangsta Grillz?" and I came to him and asked what kinds of songs he wanted me to do. Right after that, I went into the studio and just tried to get those tracks for him and make sure that I didn’t tarnish the Gangsta Grillz legacy.
On his Aaliyah collaboration:
The reason we held it back on the mixtape is actually because we got a call from her team, and they wanted to put it on her album. So that song’s gonna be on her album, Aaliyah X, which is basically like her final album. It’s full of collaborations and unheard vocals. They had like a ten-year wait, so pretty soon, actually. I can’t give any details from it, because it’s like a secret project — except for, you know, that it’s happening. But details on it have been held back.
On auto-tune today:
At this point, I don’t think anybody cares anymore. If you hear any evidence of Auto-Tune, it’s just like, “Alright, they’re using it, too.” It’s not good or bad. People have just come to terms with it. But it’s always been about the lyrics for me. People always say that if you just use Auto-Tune, then you’ve got a hit song. But you actually have to write a song. You can’t just yell and talk about cereal on a track, and put Auto-Tune on it and have a smash song. You still need to write a good song; it’s not really about how well you’re using [Auto-Tune].
On FKA Twigs:
Well, the first time we even met each other, we met in the studio. Her music’s changed a lot since then. But she’s on tour so much, and anytime I call her, she’s in a different place. And she’s engaged now, so that’s about to be a whole other thing. [Laughs.] Yeah, [she's engaged] to ol’ Patty [Robert Pattinson]. I don’t know if she wanted anybody to know that …
Check out our recent interview with Pain, where he gives some more details on the Aaliyah collab below.