Nappy Boy
Konvict
RCA
***
Having not released an album since 2008's Grammy-nominated Thr33 Rings, T-Pain has spent the past few years staying relevant as a feature artist. After many push backs, he finally returns with his fourth album Revolver. Despite Jay-Z declaring the "death" of auto-tune a few years ago, the recent Young Money signee has remained adamantly loyal to the vocal-altering software that is the cornerstone of his musical empire.
In a sea of talentless drones who lean on robotic sounds to make up for lacklustre vocals, T-Pain's use of auto-tune has always stood out as original and unique. It's Not You (It's Me) featuring Pitbull is a sure-fire smash hit that capitalises on the popularity of dance music today.
The digital age-appropriate Default Picture, a song about being enamoured with someone's Facebook or Twitter picture, saves itself from being painfully cheesy thanks to T-Pain's tongue-in-cheek delivery. The album is chock-full of guest appearances from artists such as Wiz Khalifa, R Kelly and Neyo (to name a few).
The braggadocios opener Bang Bang Pow Pow sees the frequent collaborator Lil Wayne making an appearance, and Chris Brown appears twice on the album on the radio hit Best Love Song and the future club banger Look At Her Go.
The emotional piano ballad Drowning Again provides a much-needed break from the auto-tune-saturated vibe of the rest of the album, showing that T-Pain has a great pop voice even without the computerised accoutrements. He proves that auto-tune is simply his signature sound, as opposed to a crutch for a lack of vocal ability.
