There’s never a wrong time to give flowers to the legends, especially those who’ve helped influence your style. T-Pain’s now taken the time to do just that.
On Wednesday (July 28), the Florida performer jumped onto Twitter to list André 3000, CeeLo Green, Busta Rhymes and David Banner as artists who’ve influenced him in some way or another. He also gives props to someone named Devin, who could be Devin The Dude (T-Pain didn’t specify).
In the tweet, Pain wrote: “Devin taught me how to mix records and keep it simple. 3k and CeeLo taught me I don’t have to limit myself to the sound ppl are used to and I can wear whatever I want while doin it. Banner and Busta taught me how to put on a real live show. Personal influence > public opinion.”
T-Pain’s appreciation for that collection of talent isn’t really a surprise, especially after he called out musicians across the industry for what he sees as a lack of originality. He delivered the comments after he jumped onto Twitch a couple of weeks ago.
“Stop! Just, fucking, do something else!” he said at the time. “Goddamn it! Do some different music! We have all the shit you’re doing.”
“We already have it,” he continued. “Lil Uzi Vert is already doing it, Lil Baby is already doing it, DaBaby is already doing it. It’s literally two niggas with baby in their names that’s already doing all the music you want! Do something else! That’s it! That’s all we want…Stop sending me this bullshit, and then get mad when I don’t like it. Jesus god-damn tap-dancing Christ!”
While a lot of people were upset with Pain’s comments, Dr. Dre gave them a cosign by uploading an Instagram post that gave the singer props. Either way, though, it’s clear that T-Pain still appreciates a lot of dope artists. Check out T-Pain’s shoutout for yourself below.