Okay, so Usher didn’t tip strippers with fake Ush Bucks, but he did allegedly say something to T-Pain that began a four-year depressive episode. Usher is on notice! In a clip from Netflix’s This Is Pop, T-Pain describes the time Usher woke him up on a flight to tell him that he “fucked up†music. Like, the whole art form.
The pair were flying to the 2013 BET Awards. T-Pain was asleep in first class. “I was awakened by the flight attendant,†T-Pain says in the clip. “She said, ‘Usher would like to talk to you in the back.’†T-Pain made his way to the back of the plane, where Usher told him that he had “fucked up†music for “real singers,†presumably referring to T-Pain’s exaggerated used of auto-tune. “I don’t even think I realized this for a long time,†T-Pain says, “but that’s the very moment that started a four-year depression for me.â€
All right Usher, a few notes. One: Why make a flight attendant wake T-Pain up to tell him mean shit? This couldn’t wait? Two: People were using auto-tune before T-Pain. If anything, it was more insidious and fucked up for “real singers,†since software was digitally making everyone sound pitch perfect. T-Pain (and Cher before him) blew the door wide open on that extremely common practice. Three: Did T-Pain sell auto-tune to music producers? No. The copycats are the copycats fault, sir. Not T-Pain.
Anyway, stan T-Pain. Watch this cute music video he and Classixx did a while back, remaking The Smiths’ video for “Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before.â€