T-Pain got a massive advance in his first record label deal, though he blew through the money very quickly. While on tour with Bay Area rapper LaRussell last month, the two, along with fellow rapper Tietta, sat down for a Free Game Friday session to talk about record labels. The rapper/singer says his first record deal was favorable, since he was 18 when he signed. But he spent so much of the money irresponsibly that he was eventually in the "negative."
"First deal, that whole first joint was 15/85," said T-Pain. "But they gave me crazy money, so I didn’t even care. Like, bro, they straight-up was like, 'Alright, deal’s done. Here you go.'" T-Pain added that the label gave him a $40 million advance, a number so big that his circle pressured him to accept the deal. LaRussell asked if T-Pain had ever gotten a royalty check. "Oh, yeah. A lot. I still get a lot of royalties. I’m probably never gonna not get royalty checks," he replied. He then remarked on his thoughts after signing the first contract. "I had to go look at my deal, I was like, 'Oh, I’m about to get paid.' And they was like, 'No, the f*ck you not.' And I was like, 'Bro, there’s no way.' And they were like, 'There’s all the way, ‘cause here’s your signature, you stupid piece of sh*t.'"
T-Pain's Wild First Record Deal
Because T-Pain's first advance was so large, he neglected to plan accordingly. Especially since he was 18 when he signed that contract. He talks about how he went from $40 million to "complete zero." "What do you think I'm going to do with this money? Save it?" he jokingly asked during the conversation with LaRussell and Tietta.
T-Pain continues to rake in big money over two decades into his career, though not just from music. He recently revealed the amount of money he rakes in from an hour of live streaming himself playing video games. He explained that he makes $50,000 to $60,000 per hour from his time on the popular website Twitch. The rapper also detailed how the convenience and ease of live streaming caused him to think about how much more difficult it is to profit in the music industry, as most artists make the bulk of their money from going on the road and touring. The record label taking 85% of his earnings on his first contract is another example of how difficult it is to profit, and he has found much different avenues to make money since then.