Usher slammed by fans on Twitter after singer's "autotune" accusation against T-Pain led to a four-year battle with depression

T-Pain opens up about his depression following Usher's remark (Image via Scott Gries/Invision/AP)
T-Pain opens up about his depression following Usher's remark (Image via Scott Gries/Invision/AP)

The music industry is full of ups and downs; Faheem Rasheed Najm, better known as T-Pain, found that out the hard way. For nearly two decades, T-Pain has been doing his thing, making music, and collaborating with numerous popular artists.

However, in recent news, T-Pain let out a shocker after he revealed to the world that fellow artist Usher Raymond IV, or simply known as Usher, had insulted him in 2013 during a conversation.

While insults and remarks are part and parcel of the music industry, this particular one left T-Pain shocked and in disbelief. Coming from the same artist that he had once collaborated with and called his friend, it was quite harsh to digest.

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T-Pain narrates his ordeal with Usher

What was supposed to be a feel-good flight to the 2013 BET awards turned out to be the lowest point in T-Pain's life following the insult. He began narrating his story by saying:

"We were going to the 2013 BET awards, we were all in first class, and I went to sleep; later on, I was awoken by the flight attendance; she said Usher would like to talk to you in the back. So I got up and went back, and he was like, you know, how's everything going? Quick small talk, no big deal, and he was like, man; I want to tell you something."

At this point, it was assumed that Usher was trying to tell him something about the BET awards. According to T-Pain, he thought it was something super important, given how he was woken up from his sleep and called for a conversation. Unfortunately, that was not the case. He continued by saying:

"I was like, what's good? I thought he was about to tell me something really important; he sounded really concerned. He was, 'Man, you kinda f***** up music.' I didn't understand, Usher was my friend, and he was like, 'Na man, you really f***** up music for real singers.' Literally, at that point, I couldn't listen. Was he right? Did I f*** this up? Did I f*** up music? That is the very moment that started a four-year depression for me."

While his method of incorporating Auto-Tune may not have been widely accepted, T-Pain can still be considered an innovator in the industry. He became so synonymous with Auto-Tune that he had an iPhone app named after him that simulated the effect, called "I Am T-Pain," which was later renamed to the "T-Pain effect."

Suffice to say, after learning the truth, fans are upset and are demanding an apology from Usher. It goes without saying that while T-Pain may not have invented Auto-Tune, he could be called an early adopter and, to some extent, a pioneer in his field. Here is what some fans are saying on Twitter:

Given the general mood of the situation, netizens are demanding an apology from Usher. In addition to the apology, many are calling out his hypocrisy, stating that he himself used Auto-Tune in his music over the years. It's left to be seen how things progress from here and what the future has in store for both these artists.

Watch the interview here:

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