Idon’t consciously seek out T-Pain music, but I don’t smash a radio when his songs come on either. It’s music that, with a few exceptions, isn’t for me. When I encounter it, I recognize that I’ve probably walked into the wrong room. So my first reaction to listening to T-Pain recount an encounter with Usher in which the R&B icon told him that he “fucked up music for real singers” was indifference. But as the clip from the new Netflix series This is Pop began to circulate on the internet, I took the time to develop, if not feelings, at least a position.
The first red flag in the story is the part about a flight attendant summoning T-Pain on behalf of Usher — when both friends are already sitting in first class. Though setting aside that what Usher did was tacky and insensitive, the more important observation is that he was wrong.
It was never okay to lay the laziness and gluttony of the music industry at T-Pain’s feet… The music industry is always being “ruined” by one development or another.
