Early life
He was born in
Tallahassee, Florida to entrepreneur
Muslim parents Shasheem Najm and Aliyah Najm. At the age of ten, Faheem reworked his bedroom into a small studio with a
keyboard, beat machine and four-track recorder, and began composing music. Faheem later graduated from
James S. Rickards High School. Prior to becoming a solo singer, Faheem was part of the Tallahassee rap group Nappy Headz, allowing T-Pain to start his career as a solo artist. In 2002, he founded his own label, Hard & B, and soon caught the spotlight as a solo artist when his song "I'm Fucked Up", a reworked version of
Akon's "Locked Up", gained popularity in the region. Akon noticed the song and signed T-Pain to his newly formed
Konvict Music record label.
Career
2005: Rappa Ternt Sanga
T-Pain released his solo debut title single, "
I'm Sprung", in August 2005. His debut
album,
Rappa Ternt Sanga, ("rapper turned singer") was released on
November 6,
2005, under Konvict Music. Guest appearances included
Mike Jones,
Trick Daddy,
Youngbloodz,
Styles P.,
Akon,
BoneCrusher, & Tay Dzim. Hit singles "I'm Sprung" and "
I'm N Luv (Wit A Stripper)" which sold over 5 million ringtones spawned official remixes titled "I'm Sprung 2" with
Trick Daddy and
YoungBloodZ, and "I'm N Luv (Wit a Stripper), The Remix" with
Twista,
Pimp C,
Paul Wall,
R. Kelly,
MJG and
Too $hort. He is featured on
E-40's
2006 summer hit single
U and Dat along with
Kandi Girl, which was produced by
Lil Jon.
2007: Epiphany
He has released his second album
Epiphany on the 5th of June, 2007, that features "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" and his new hit-single "
Bartender" featuring Akon. This album has shipped platinum. Guest appearances included
Yung Joc,
Akon,
Shawnna,
Cham,
Kardinal Offishall, &
Jay Lyriq. During that time, he has appeared on the remix of R. Kelly's "
I'm a Flirt", with
T.I., Bow Wow's "
Outta My System", Fabolous's "
Baby Don't Go",
Plies's "
Shawty", Chris Brown's "
Kiss Kiss", &
Kanye West's "
Good Life".
His new single is "
Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" featuring
Yung Joc, which he produced for his upcoming album Church. The video for "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" was released April 9, and the song went to #1. It contains cameos by Jay-Z,
Huey, Shawnna, and E-40. He is recently featured on
Flo-Rida's debut single, "
Low".
He has released a song for
MySpace lovers, called "What's Your Myspace" featuring Tay Dizm. He released a song with Florida Artist J-Shin, called "Send Me An E-Mail". The video for the song was co-directed by T-Pain and fellow Floridian filmmaker JOKES and co-starred "MySpace Queen"
Tila Tequila. It is said that T-Pain helped Miami rappers
Plies &
Flo-Rida start their music career through their debut singles.
Nappy Boy record label
T-Pain created his own music label called "Nappy Boy", which has several artists signed already; he plans to release a new album in the summer of 2009.
Awards and nominations
- 2007, Favorite Male Artist [Nominated]
- 2008, Album of the Year (Graduation) Nominated
- 2008, Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group ("Bartender") Nominated
2008, Best Rap Song ("Good Life") Won - 2008, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Good Life") Nominated
- 2008, Best Rap/Sung Collaboration ("Kiss Kiss") Nominated
- 2007, Monster Single of the Year ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)") [Nominated]
- 2007, Best R&B Artist [Nominated]
- 2007, Best Collaboration ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)") [Nominated]
- 2007, Song of the Year ("Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)") Winner
- 2007, Best Male R&B Artist [Award]
- 2007, Best Rap/R&B Collaboration with Plies ("Shawty") [Award]
Discography
Singles
- 2005: "I'm Sprung"
- 2006: "I'm N Luv (Wit A Stripper)" (featuring Mike Jones)
- 2006: "Studio Luv"
- 2007: "Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" (featuring Yung Joc)
- 2007: "Bartender" (featuring Akon)
- 2007: "Church"
Featured singles
- 2006: "U and Dat" (E-40 featuring T-Pain & Kandi Girl)
- 2007: "I'm a Flirt (Remix)" (R. Kelly featuring T.I. & T-Pain)
- 2007: "Outta My System" (Bow Wow featuring T-Pain)
- 2007: "Shawty" (Plies featuring T-Pain)
- 2007: "Baby Don't Go" (Fabolous featuring T-Pain)
- 2007: "Cyclone" (Baby Bash featuring T-Pain)
- 2007: "I'm So Hood" (DJ Khaled featuring Trick Daddy, Rick Ross, Plies, & T-Pain)
- 2007: "Kiss Kiss" (Chris Brown featuring T-Pain)
- 2007: "Good Life" (Kanye West featuring T-Pain)
- 2007: "Low" (Flo-Rida featuring T-Pain)
- 2007: "Who the Fuck Is That?" (Dolla featuring T-Pain & Tay Dizm)
- 2008: "The Boss" (Rick Ross featuring T-Pain)
- 2008: "Shawty Get Loose" (Lil' Mama featuring Chris Brown & T-Pain)
- 2008: "She Got It" 2 Pistols featuring T-Pain
External links
Biography of T-PAIN 