T-Pain

While the last few years of vocoder-mania have left many a ticked-off fan grumbling at their radio about the purity of music, it's clear that the Akon's, Kanye West's, Lil Wayne's and T-Pain's of the world are here to stay. And the ringleader of this bizarre circus? While Akon may have started it, T-Pain gets the nod, having more or less owned the radio, since he jumped onto the scene. And with his newest album, Thr33 Rings, T-Pain has cemented that status.

For those interested in whether the increasingly bizarre singer–he showed up at the MTV VMAs on an elephant–has got the goods to back up his stab at pop immortality, there is plenty of evidence that he does. The first half of the album is a near uninterrupted parade of absurdly catchy pop songs, from the Lil Wayne-assisted "Can't Believe It," to the Ludacris-featuring "Chopped and Skrewed," to "Therapy," which showcases the poppy charisma that Pain and Kanye West were so ably demonstrated on last year's "Good Life." And he's not just singing this time – Pain leaves the warbling aside for a moment on "Karaoke", to flex his previously rapping muscles in addressing the haters and Johnny-come-latelys to the vocoder show. It's better than it sounds.

The album, clocking in at 23 tracks (with the requisite and redundant skits), is certainly ambitious. Unfortunately, however, it's too ambitious–the formula of synth-heavy beats and candy-coated hooks wears thin after a while, and the album wears out its welcome well before its conclusion. Not to fault his ambition, though–it's clear that Pain wanted to make a statement, and if music needs more of anything these days, it's certainly statements. He just would have been far better served by some more ambitious songwriting.

Staid musical formula aside, Pain's lyrics are far too one-dimensional, focusing on the tired clichés of strippers and partying to the exclusion of everything else. The album will certainly be big–if the public has a vocoder enjoyment ceiling, it doesn't seem to have hit it yet, and the first half of Thr33 Rings alone has at least four or five radio-ready singles–but if Pain ever wants to release a classic album, he would do best to learn two simple lessons. First–don;t conflate quantity with quality. And second? That when it comes to poppy dance tracks, there can be too much of a good thing. A little diversity could go a long way next time around, and I wish him the best of luck.

—Matthew Mundy
11.24.08

Hated on for his over-the-top appearance, his constant use of the electronic Auto-Tune voice filter, plus guest shots on maybe 30-percent of the R&B or hip-hop singles released during the years 2007/2008, T-Pain is the full package in a sidekick's disguise. Like a garish version of his label boss Akon, he's a singer/songwriter/producer who doesn't evolve much over this avalanche of releases and guest shots, but Thr33 Ringz proves he's much more aware of his limitations. First, there's the long guest list here, featuring high-power names like Lil Wayne, T.I., Kanye West, and Akon himself. Then, there's the album's concept, which finds a series of perfectly polished and unsurprising numbers held together by a circus theme, allowing T-Pain to exploit his "Ringleader Man" persona; hyping every act and stunt while pacing the parade for maximum impact. Three tracks in and Ludacris appears on the good-timing "Chopped N Skrewed" where the Southern style of remixing is mimicked with Luda's excellent sense of humor. The futuristic highlight "Blowing Up" finds Ciara seducing T-Pain with quirky references to techno and electronica plus a rock-solid hook. Shame that the ringleader's weird way of rhyming "mansion" and "Wisconsin" is the high point of "Can't Believe It" since guest star Lil Wayne seems on autopilot. Wait 'til the break-up song "Therapy" and you'll get two Wayne-style lines to choose from with T-Pain offering "1234/Get the hell up out my door/5678/I don't need your sex I'll masturbate" while guest Kanye West gives up "You too much pressure doll/You gonna raise my cholesterol." There's no big finish and Akon's dream of turning "every bullet to a Hershey's Kiss" so we can "eat away our fears" is just one example of why "Change" is awful, but this is an otherwise entertaining example of the gimmick-filled R&B/hip-hop album done right. ~ David Jeffries, All Music Guide