Faheem Rashad Najm (born September 30, 1984), known professionally as T-Pain, is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for pioneering the creative use of Auto-Tune pitch correction, often used with extreme parameter settings to create electronic-styled vocal performances. Blending its use with R&B and hip-hop sensibilities, T-Pain played a key role in defining rap-singing throughout the 2000s.
T-Pain began his recording career as part of the hip-hop group Nappy Headz. He self-released his debut solo mixtape, Back @ It, in 2004, and signed with Akon's Konvict Muzik, in a joint venture with Jive Records, the following year. His 2005 debut single, "I'm Sprung", was quickly met with commercial success, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100 and receiving platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Its follow-up, "I'm 'n Luv (wit a Stripper)" (featuring Mike Jones), peaked at number five on the chart; both served as lead singles for his debut studio album, Rappa Ternt Sanga (2005). Despite mixed critical reception, his second album, Epiphany (2007), peaked atop the US Billboard 200 and spawned the Billboard Hot 100-number one single "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" (featuring Yung Joc), as well as the top-40 single, "Bartender" (featuring Akon). His third album, Three Ringz (2008), was preceded by the single "Can't Believe It" (featuring Lil Wayne), and his fourth album, Revolver (2011), was preceded by "5 O'Clock" (featuring Wiz Khalifa and Lily Allen). His fifth album, Oblivion (2017) sustained long-term delays and was met with critical and commercial failure, serving as his final release on a major label.
Meanwhile, T-Pain saw continued success as a guest performer on nine Hot 100-top ten singles—"Shawty" by Plies, "Cyclone" by Baby Bash, "Good Life" by Kanye West, "Shawty Get Loose" by Lil Mama, "Got Money" by Lil Wayne, "Blame It" by Jamie Foxx, and "Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor)" by Pitbull—which includes two singles that peaked the chart: "Kiss Kiss" by Chris Brown and "Low" by Flo Rida. The latter was named third in the Billboard Hot 100 Songs of the Decade and received diamond (10× platinum) certification by the RIAA. "Good Life" and "Blame It" both won Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song and Best Rap/Sung Performance, respectively, from T-Pain's total of 12 nominations for the award. Outside of music, he founded the record label Nappy Boy Entertainment in 2005, which has signed fellow rapper Travie McCoy. He has produced and written material for other artists, and voice-acted in film and television including Tom & Jerry, Freaknik: The Musical, The Cleveland Show, Squidbillies, and We Bare Bears.
Faheem Rashad Najm was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida, to parents Aliyah, a Bahamian chef, and Shasheem, who founded the Homeboyz to Men program. Najm was brought up in a Muslim household, but he has expressed his lack of interest in the concept of religion. At three years old, he got his first taste of the music business when a friend of the family, gospel jazz artist and producer Ben Tankard, allowed him to spend time and "twist the knobs" at his recording studio. At age ten, Najm turned his bedroom into a music studio, using a keyboard, a beat machine, and a four-track recorder.
1999–2006: Early career and Rappa Ternt Sanga
T-Pain joined the rap group Nappy Headz in 1999. Through a mutual connection with music promoter TJ Chapman, he was discovered by Rocco Did It Again! and Mike Blumstein—co-founders of the independent record label Chase Entertainment—to whom he signed. His stage name is short for "Tallahassee Pain", and was chosen because of the hardships he experienced while living there. He released his debut mixtape, Back @ It in 2004, and later released the song "I'm Fucked Up", a slightly altered cover version of Akon's then-popular 2004 single, "Locked Up". Akon himself came across the song and immediately offered T-Pain a deal with his label, Konvict Muzik. While T-Pain was offered other record deals, with the highest-bidding being US$900,000, Akon promised the young artist a personal mentorship in the industry. Meanwhile, Blumstein and Rocco remained involved in T-Pain's careers as joint co-managers. Afterward, T-Pain began singing instead of rapping, and used this inspiration to begin recording for his debut studio album, Rappa Ternt Sanga. Released on December 6, 2005, through a joint venture with Jive Records, the album reached number 33 on the Billboard 200, and has since received gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
The album was supported by T-Pain's debut commercial single, "I'm Sprung", which was released in August 2005 and peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Its follow-up, "I'm 'n Luv (wit a Stripper)" (featuring Mike Jones), served as the album's second single; it was released in December of that year and peaked at number five on the former chart, and number ten on the latter. The third and final single from the album, "Studio Luv", was released in October 2006 and failed to chart.
In mid-2006, T-Pain began work on his second album, now with the Zomba Label Group as well as his previous labels. The album, titled Epiphany, was released on June 5, 2007. The album sold 171,000 records in its first week, reaching number one on the Billboard 200. The record has since sold 819,000 records in the United States.
The album was preceded by the lead single "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" (featuring Yung Joc), released in February 2007. The song reached number one on both the Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, becoming his first to peak atop both charts. The album's second single, "Bartender" (featuring Akon), was released in June 2007 and reached number five on the Hot 100 and number nine on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third and final single from the album, "Church", was released in October 2007 and failed to chart in the United States.
Speaking in May 2007 to Pete Lewis of Blues & Soul about his reason for naming his second album 'Epiphany', T-Pain stated: "One of the two dictionary meanings of epiphany is 'a sudden moment of insight or revelation'. And to me the title 'Epiphany' signifies the moment I realized that, to make the best music I can, I needed to just go in the studio and be myself, and not concentrate so hard on following other people's formulas." While promoting his second album, T-Pain made guest appearances on multiple songs by other artists. T-Pain was featured on "I'm a Flirt" (remix) by R. Kelly, "Outta My System" by Bow Wow, "Baby Don't Go" by Fabolous, "I'm So Hood" by DJ Khaled, "Shawty" by Plies, "Kiss Kiss" by Chris Brown, "Low" by Flo Rida, and "Good Life" by Kanye West. For two weeks in late 2007, T-Pain was featured on four top ten singles simultaneously on the Hot 100 chart.
His performance on West's "Good Life" won the BET Award for Best Collaboration and was nominated in several other categories. In 2008, the song won a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song.
In 2007, T-Pain began work on his third album, Three Ringz with Rocco Valdes, Akon, and Lil Wayne. The album was also his first under his newly launched label, Nappy Boy Entertainment. Released on November 11, 2008, the album sold 168,000 records in its first week and reached number four on the Billboard 200. A mixtape, Pr33 Ringz, was released in early 2008 for the album's promotion.
Three Ringz was preceded by three singles; its lead single, "Can't Believe It" (featuring Lil Wayne), was released in July 2008 and reached number seven on the Hot 100 and number two on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The album's second single, "Chopped 'n' Skrewed" (featuring Ludacris), was released in September 2008; it reached number 27 on the Hot 100 and number three on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. The third and final single from the album, "Freeze" (featuring Chris Brown), was released in October 2008; it reached number 38 on the Hot 100 and number 39 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Guest appearances on Three Ringz include T.I., Lil Wayne, Ludacris, DJ Khaled, Ciara, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others.