By Ann Shelley: Opinion Editor

T-Pain has been announced as the performer for High Point University’s spring 2018 concert, and the student body is ex- cited for this famous rapper to be at HPU. is Floridian native rst started as a rapper in the group Nappy Headz.

T-Pain grew up in Tallahassee, Florida and his original stage name was short for “Tallahassee Pain.” He turned his bed- room growing up into a studio using a keyboard, a beat machine and a four-track recorder. He got his first taste of the music business from a young age, and has wanted to be part of it ever since.

T-Pain produces a lot of his own beats and has his own style of music with the pitch correlation. Much of his success can be attributed to start of Auto-Tone usage in the rapper community, which is becoming increasingly common across all com- mercial music.

The rapper has two Grammy awards and has released many albums throughout the years. His debut album called “Rappa Ternt Sanga” was released in 2005, followed by his second album “Epiphany” in 2007, which reached number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and “ r33 Ringz” in 2008.

He is currently on tour for his most recent album “Oblivion,” which released Nov. 17, 2017 and features other great art- ists like Chris Brown, Ti any Adams, Mr. Talkbox, Manny G, Wale, Blac Youngsta, Ty Dolla $ign, Ne-Yo. T-Pain has had many successful songs on his own as well like these early 2000s throwbacks, “I’m ’n Luv (Wit a Stripper)”, “Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin)”, “Can’t Believe It” and “5 O’Clock.”

He has also been featured on dozens of other artists’ tracks, such as Pitbull’s “Hey Baby” (Drop It to the Floor), Chris Brown’s “Kiss Kiss”, Kanye West’s “Good Life” and Jamie Foxx’s “Blame it” and Flo Rida’s “Low.”

HPU is excited to host such an incred- ible and in uential artist like T-Pain for the spring 2018 concert on Friday, April 13.