Faheem Rasheed Najm, (born September 30, 1985 in Tallahassee, Florida) better known by his stage name T-Pain, is an American hip hop and R&B singer-songwriter and producer. He has been noted for using autotune.

Early life

He was born in to entrepreneur Christian parents, Najib Shasheem and Aliyah Najm, and was brought up Muslim. At the age of ten, Faheem reworked his bedroom into a small studio with a keyboard, beat machine and four-track recorder, and began composing music. Faheem later graduated from James S. Rickards High School in Tallahassee, Florida Prior to becoming a solo singer, Faheem was part of the Tallahassee rap group Nappy Headz (OD, Notty Black, Nook DogG, Doeboy), allowing T-Pain to start his career as a rapper. T-Pain has said in an interview to MSNBC that Akon "called me right when I went to get my application from McDonald’s". After the phone call history was made.

In 2002, he founded his own style of music, Hard & B, and soon caught the spotlight as a solo artist when his song "I'm Fucked Up", a reworked version of Akon's "Locked Up", gained popularity in the region. Akon noticed the song and signed T-Pain to his newly formed Konvict Music record label.

Career

2005-2006: Rappa Ternt Sanga

Rappa Ternt Sanga is the debut album by R&B singer T-Pain, released in 2005. The title is a play on the phrase "rapper turned singer," of which he has stated that he wanted to be a rapper, but turned singer instead. It has sold over 800,000 copies worldwide.

The album details the life chronicles of T-Pain, describing his inner desires towards sexuality, sensuality and the excessive consumption of cannabis. T-Pain had two US Billboard Top Ten hits with "I'm Sprung" and "I'm N Luv (With A Stripper)". Other tracks on the album include "I'm So High" a sad song which is commonly mistaken as a song about a bad high since it alludes to the use of recreational drugs. It may as well be one of T-Pain's most philosophical songs. Rappa Ternt Sanga debuted at #33 on the Billboard 200 and fell down two places to #35 the next week, the album peaked at #33. One of the leftover tracks is "You And Me", the original version of I Can't Wait. [1]

2007: Epiphany

In 2007, his second album Epiphany came out, with the singles "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" featuring Yung Joc and "Bartender" featuring Akon. Both singles were in the Top 5. Epiphany debuted at the top spot of the US Billboard 200 chart, and has sold about 1,000,000 units as of May 2008. being the first number-one album of his career. During that time, he appeared on the singles "I'm a Flirt" remix by R. Kelly with T.I., "Outta My System" by Bow Wow, "Baby Don't Go" by Fabolous, "Shawty" by Plies, "Kiss Kiss" by Chris Brown, "Low" by Flo Rida, and "Good Life" by Kanye West.

2008: Thr33 Ringz

His third album Thr33 Ringz is to be released November 11, 2008, over a month after its initial release date of September 30, also his birthday. "Can't Believe It" featuring Lil Wayne is the first single; the video premiered on BET on August 26. "Chopped & Skrewed" featuring Ludacris is the second single in this album. Guest appearances on Thr33 Ringz include Busta Rhymes, Bow Wow, Lil Wayne, Ludacris, DJ Khaled, Chris Brown, Rick Ross, Kanye West and many more. Pr33 Ringz is the introduction mixtape for the album, Superman was released as an unofficial single from it.

Discography

Solo

• 2005: Rappa Ternt Sanga
• 2007: Epiphany
• 2008: Thr33 Ringz

Collaboration

• TBD: T-Wayne

Filmography

• 2009: Fast and Furios As Johnny

Internet

• 2008: T-Pain starred in a video on funnyordie.com where he takes on the vocoder titled T-Pain v. His Vocoder

Awards and nominations

• American Music Awards
• 2007, Favorite Male Artist [Nominated]

• BET Awards
• 2008, Best Collaboration ("Kiss Kiss") with Chris Brown (Nominated)
• 2008, Best Collaboration ("Low") with Flo Rida [Nominated]
• 2008, Viewer's Choice ("Kiss Kiss") with Chris Brown (Nominated)
• 2008, Best Collaboration ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Won)
• 2008, Video of the Year ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Nominated)

• BET Hip Hop Awards
• 2008, Best Ringtone ("Low") with Flo Rida [Nominated]
• 2008, Best Hip-Hop Video ("Good Life") with Kanye West [Nominated]
• 2008, Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Low") with Flo Rida [Nominated]
• 2008, Best Hip-Hop Collabo ("Good Life") with Kanye West [Nominated]
• 2008, Track of the Year ("Good Life") with Kanye West [Nominated]

• BMI Urban Awards
• Song Writer Of The Year (Won)
• Producer Of The Year shared with J.R. Rotem & Kanye West (Won)

• Grammy Awards
• 2008, Album of the Year (Graduation) [Nominated]
• 2008, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group ("Bartender") with Akon [Nominated]
• 2008, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Good Life") With Kanye West [Nominated]
• 2008, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Kiss Kiss") with Chris Brown [Nominated]
• 2008, Best Rap Song ("Good Life") with Kanye West (Won)

• Ozone Music Awards
• 2008, TJ's DJ's Hustler of the Year [Nominated]
• 2008, Club Banger of the Year ("I'm So Hood") with DJ Khaled, Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, & Plies [Nominated]
• 2008, Club Banger of the Year ("Low") with Flo Rida [Nominated]
• 2008, Best Rap/R&B Collaboration ("She Got It") with 2 Pistols & Tay Dizm [Nominated]
• 2008, Best R&B Artist [Nominated]
• 2008, Best TJ's DJ's Tastemaker Award (Won)
• 2007, Best Male R&B Artist (Won)
• 2007, Best Rap/R&B Collaboration ("Shawty") with Plies (Won)
• 2007: Best Rap/R&B Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" with Yung Joc [Nominated]

• MTV Video Music Award
• 2008, Best Hip-Hop Video ("Low") with Flo Rida (Nominated)
• 2008, Best Male Video ("Low") with Flo Rida [Nominated]
• 2007, Monster Single of the Year ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)"), featuring Yung Joc [Nominated]

• Teen Choice Awards
• 2008, Choice Hook-Up: Flo Rida Featuring T-Pain, "Low"
• 2008, Choice Music: R&B Artist - T-Pain
• 2008, Choice Music: Rap/Hip-Hop Track - Lil Mama featuring Chris Brown and T-Pain, "Shawty Get Loose" (winner)

• Vibe Awards
• 2007, Best R&B Artist [Nominated]
• 2007, Best Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)") with Yung Joc [Nominated]
• 2007, Song of the Year ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)") with Yung Joc (Won)

References

External links

• T-Pain Official Website
• Nappy Boy Website
• T-Pain's KonvictMuzik.net page
• T-Pain's Episode of Rehearsal Space
• T-Pain interview August Issue 2008 -- Blender magazine