b. Faheem Najm, 30 June 1985, Tallahassee, Florida, USA. This former rapper turned singer-songwriter/producer enjoyed US success at the end of 2005 with the R&B/pop hit ‘I’m Sprung’. Najm began making music in his bedroom studio while still living with his parents, before graduating to live performance with the Florida-based rap outfit Nappy Headz. The quintet enjoyed local hits in 2000/01 with ‘Robbery’ and ‘F.L.A.’ but failed to make an impact on the national scene. Rebranding himself T-Pain in honour of his native Tallahassee, Najm began recording his own brand of R&B, dubbed ‘Hard & B’, for his own label. The single ‘Time To Make Love’ attracted local interest but his major breakthrough was with a rewrite of Akon’s ‘Locked Up’ called ‘Fucked Up’. This street hit attracted the attention of Akon himself, resulting in the flavour of the month convict turned superstar signing T-Pain to his Konvict Muzik imprint. T-Pain’s debut album was premiered by the mainstream Top 10 hit ‘I’m Sprung’, a catchy ode to marital love whose major attraction was a heavily distorted vocal reminiscent of late funk mainstay Roger Troutman. Rappa Ternt Sanga was released at the start of December 2005. The follow-up single ‘I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper)’ (featuring Mike Jones) was also a major US hit.
After working on albums by Xzibit and TLC’s Chilli, the singer returned to the US charts in spring 2007 with the solo hit ‘Buy U A Drank (Shawty Snappin’)’. By the summer, the track had completed its rise to the number 1 position.
