T-Pain, known for his songwriting prowess, is now done competing for plaudits for some songs he worked on. In a TikTok video he posted recently, he noted he holds loads of admiration for country music despite his roots in hip-hop and R&B.
The 39-year-old artist indicated his belief that good music transcends genres, stating, “Good music is good music.”
“I don’t give a f**k where it comes from or what style it comes in. All the people I know, like, feel like it’s not cool to listen to other genres of music,” he said, as reported by Eton Online.
According to him, he draws inspiration for his harmonies from country and gospel music, noting that the two genres have a strong influence on his musical style.
The Grammy-winning musician disclosed that he has written country songs but has opted to refrain from claiming credit for them due to the racist backlash he has encountered.
“I done wrote a lot of country songs,” he said. “Stopped taking credit for it because as cool as it is to see your name in those credits and s**t like that, the racism that comes after it is just like … I’ll just take the check, don’t put me on that s**t. I’ll just take the check, bro, never mind,” he ended with a laugh.
T-Pain, also known as Faheem Rashad Najm, didn’t provide further details about the country songs he’s contributed to or the racism he’s faced. Throughout his career, he’s written songs for artists like Bruno Mars, Chris Brown, and Jamie Foxx.
His love for various genres, including country music, is evident in his album “On Top of the Covers,” featuring covers of songs like David Allan Coe’s “Tennessee Whiskey” and Black Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”
A viral clip of his performance prompted praise from Ozzy Osbourne, the lead singer of Black Sabbath, on social media. “This is the best cover of ‘War Pigs’ ever,” Osbourne wrote. “Why didn’t you guys call me?”
T-Pain responded by extending a hand of invitation to Osbourne.
“You’re always invited. Top of the list, every time!!” he said. “Thank you so much. Means a lot coming from the greatness himself.”
