T-Pain wasn’t immune to Usher’s harsh criticism of the “Buy U a Drank” singer’s use of auto-tune. In fact, the conversation sent Pain into a severe depression, but it appeared that the two had patched things up—or so we thought.
In a new interview with Angie Martinez, T-Pain said that what Usher told Billboard back in August—that they’ve “spoken” and are “good”—isn’t the case. Pain said he reached out to Usher following the airing of his This is Pop episode in June.
“I texted him and I was like, ‘Yo, I know you saw what happened. I know you saw the interview.’ ‘Cause I told his A&R about the interview years ago because he was asking me to work with Usher,” T-Pain told Martinez around the 9:30 minute-mark of the interview above. “So I hit Usher after the interview came out and I’m like, ‘Yo, I’m sure you saw what happened. … That was the truth, that’s what happened, you definitely said that.’ I remember that whole day.”
He continued, “Then all he texted me back was, ‘Let’s not text, let’s talk.’ And I was like, ‘Cool, hit me up.’ And I never heard from him, he never called me. I feel like I initiated the contact.”
In the Netflix docuseries, This is Pop, Pain opened up about how he battled severe depression following a conversation with Usher, who said Pain’s use of auto-tune had negatively impacted music.
“Usher was my friend,” T-Pain said in the episode. “I really respect Usher. And he said, ‘I’m gonna tell you something, man. You kinda fucked up music.’ That is the very moment, and I don’t even think I realized this for a long time, but that’s the very moment that started a four-year depression for me.”
However, when speaking with Billboard in August, Usher said he’s “happy” Pain spoke up about the story. “It was very hurtful to know that he had experienced that kind of hardship in life,” Usher said. “I wouldn’t wish that on any person. Private conversations for me have always been intended to uplift. But when or if people get pieces of it, they can always have some other interpretation. But we’ve spoken since and we’re good.”
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