 You know, just how apps and technology have changed music, you know, both your career, wider music industry. Let's switch chairs. Let's switch chairs. Mine's a little more quiet. I'm going to see if I can find you a quiet one. Watch out. Oh, shit, I forgot about that. God damn it. Nah, of course. Oh, look. Do I look terrible? What's good, man? This is your homeboy T-Pain, AKA your girlfriend's boyfriend, right here with The Verge. Yeah, so I guess, I mean, the first thing to ask is we're here to talk about GarageBand. And from what I understand, you've actually used GarageBand, which is, you know, known as an amateur piece of software, to make some of your hits, which is pretty crazy. I mean, is that still possible to use, like, a piece of software like GarageBand to make something that is a, like, serious piece of music? Well, the great thing is that it's even more possible now, you know, because they've heard the voices of, you know, their users, and, you know, when it started coming on the laptop, like I did my whole first album on GarageBand, because, you know, it was just, it was so accessible. Is there a reason for you to go back to GarageBand ever? Do you still use that when you're on the go? I still use it. I just got off of it right before you guys got here. So yeah, I use it in my big, powerful studio. Like, you know, people just have to see these things, and people have to know. Like if I tell you that the last song that I released was completely done in GarageBand, you either wouldn't believe it or you'd go, I need to check out GarageBand. Was it? Yes. Wow. Yeah. I'm creating, like, stuff for my new album. Like, I'm still, yeah, I'm doing full songs. Like, you know, there's, you know, the inter-audio apps, there's always third party apps that you can bring in to where it'd make the vocals a little sweeter, and, you know, I gotta have my pitch correction. So, you know, there's always apps you can bring in for that, you know what I'm saying? I got my IMT-Pain app, I can bring that in. And, you know, different, if you want some different drums from a different place, and you can bring in inter-audio apps. Well, let me ask you this. I feel like I've heard a lot of musicians, they're, you know, almost embarrassed to admit that they use GarageBand, or they'll be like, oh, no, no, no, I used to, or like, I tried a little bit of that. Yeah, that's weird. So you think it's just like perfectly, totally legitimate? It's totally legitimate. It's not, well, to me, it's the carpenter, not the hammer. Much of your career has been defined by the technology, which is really wild, right? Because you're, you know, an incredible singer by yourself. You didn't need to use Auto-Tune, but you decided to bring that in. Right. You know, is that because you know the technology is going to bring attention? Is it to get a certain sound? Yeah, no, I was definitely not a technological prophet or anything like that. I didn't, I don't want to take that. I just, I felt like I would have just been another singer. There's so many people that can sing and have wonderful voices and, you know, a lot better than mine. And I always thought to myself, what's going to make me different? And you know, sacrificing people hearing my voice and, you know, being ready for the ridicule and stuff like that, I just said, you know what, here's what's going to make me different. I'm going to stand out. Nobody's going to be able to copy this. Boy, was I wrong. Super wrong. But you know, it was, it was a thought process of how do I not become just another guy that can sing? And at the time where I was building computers for people in Tallahassee, yeah, that was my business. Yeah, I charged them 400 bucks to go get the parts. You still build your own computers? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, I can't, I can't have anybody else build my computer. So you know, it's always been like that, man. And you know, one computer I was building for a guy and he didn't have all the money. So he gave me a, he gave me a CD of cracked plugins. Wow. So I was just going through it and you know, I had one, one region of vocals just had that looping and was going through each plugin. And once I got to Antares Auto Tune, I stopped and I was like, this is it. This is what's going to make me sound different. And there it was. That's wild. And here we are. Wait, so hold on, you mentioned it. Do you actually use the IMT Pain app for your vocals? Oh, absolutely. Seriously? Yeah, there's nothing better. Really? Nothing better. IMT Pain, take it home with you. Yeah, absolutely. That's cool. So not everybody should be using the IMT Pain app. I'm using the IMT Pain app because I am T-Pain. So I guess, you know, the big story about having all this stuff on our phones and the fact that these are all really easy to use tools is it's opening up music to more amateurs, I would imagine. Right. Is that intimidating that there's that literally anybody can become a huge star? I don't think so. I mean, it's not intimidating to me because, you know, I was that amateur. Do you think it's easier to get out there now or is there too much noise for anybody to actually find a place? It's easier to get exposure. To get the right exposure is harder to get the right exposure. But you know, all you got to do at this point is, I know in the urban demographic, you just got to diss somebody and it'll be right there. So you're using streaming services then? Oh, yeah. Absolutely. I mean, musicians seem to talk about them like they're apocalyptic for actually making any money. No, no, not at all. Because I mean, due to streams, like, I mean, sound like a jerk right now. But if you got more streams, maybe your show prices can go up. Maybe different things, your revenue will come from different places due to the amount of streams you have. Let it stream, man. We don't get the iTunes money. We don't get any of that money. Like even if we, even when we sell albums, we're just paying back the money that we borrowed from the label to get that album out. So you know, it's not a fact of making money off of things and asking Spotify, where's my money at? It's not all that. It's about what you do with that opportunity afterwards. Streaming is just giving the customer availability. You're selling an idea now. Now you're selling to the person, don't you want to see this live? Come to the concert. And don't you want to come see me in person somewhere that you got to pay for? So when you put out the new album, you want people to listen to it and then get excited and come see you. Right. So you know what I'm saying? New tour for the album, new tour for the single, new tour for something, you know, and a new, a new way to make money. The surprise album drop is like this unique digital thing, which seems to be like, can we, can we get as much attention in one moment? I'll tell you what that is. That's a contest. That's a contest between artists to see who's more famous than the other one. That's all that is. I'm not risking it. I need to take my show prices up. I need everybody to know about my album. Actually leaks and mixtapes are two other maybe interesting things to touch on before we why do a mixtape versus a CD? Why do people just to basically to hold it down, you know what I'm saying? To keep your attention, keep the attention mindset, keep the attention going, keep letting people know that you are still making music and you know, just you're in between album cycles. Mixtapes nowadays are purely digital because if you're not, if you're not planning on making money, you try not to spend any on printing up CDs and now you got to get a cover made and you got to print those and now you got to get cases and it's too much and you got to actually hand them to people. Who does that anymore? Skin to skin contact? Nobody's doing that. Have you had experience with leaked albums at all? Many many times. Is that frustrating or is it positive? It's very frustrating because you know, like I said, we had the whole we have rollouts to where we have plans on when things are going to happen and when would be the optimal time to drop certain things as a collective. We found out what studios not to use because some of the employees may leak it and something like that or what email. Like we've all as a collective just found out you know, the most common ways that we've been leaked. So musicians are sharing in all the wow. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, we have to. So what do you do once something leaks? Is it just, do you just throw your arms up or do you kind of throw your arms? With me, I reformulate and I make newer music. You know, I kind of give it to them like, haha, you thought you had it. They did have it, but my quick plan is like, yeah, I'm just going to make new music and I'm going to make you think you got the wrong stuff. Well thank you. I appreciate you having us. It's been great talking about music. Thank you guys. T-Pain is awesome.
 You know, just how apps and technology have changed music, you know, both your career,
 wider music industry.
 Let's switch chairs.
 Let's switch chairs.
 Mine's a little more quiet.
 I'm going to see if I can find you a quiet one.
 Watch out.
 Oh, shit, I forgot about that.
 God damn it.
 Nah, of course.
 Oh, look.
 Do I look terrible?
 What's good, man?
 This is your homeboy T-Pain, AKA your girlfriend's boyfriend, right here with The Verge.
 Yeah, so I guess, I mean, the first thing to ask is we're here to talk about GarageBand.
 And from what I understand, you've actually used GarageBand, which is, you know, known
 as an amateur piece of software, to make some of your hits, which is pretty crazy.
 I mean, is that still possible to use, like, a piece of software like GarageBand to make
 something that is a, like, serious piece of music?
 Well, the great thing is that it's even more possible now, you know, because they've heard
 the voices of, you know, their users, and, you know, when it started coming on the laptop,
 like I did my whole first album on GarageBand, because, you know, it was just, it was so
 accessible.
 Is there a reason for you to go back to GarageBand ever?
 Do you still use that when you're on the go?
 I still use it.
 I just got off of it right before you guys got here.
 So yeah, I use it in my big, powerful studio.
 Like, you know, people just have to see these things, and people have to know.
 Like if I tell you that the last song that I released was completely done in GarageBand,
 you either wouldn't believe it or you'd go, I need to check out GarageBand.
 Was it?
 Yes.
 Wow.
 Yeah.
 I'm creating, like, stuff for my new album.
 Like, I'm still, yeah, I'm doing full songs.
 Like, you know, there's, you know, the inter-audio apps, there's always third party apps that
 you can bring in to where it'd make the vocals a little sweeter, and, you know, I gotta have
 my pitch correction.
 So, you know, there's always apps you can bring in for that, you know what I'm saying?
 I got my IMT-Pain app, I can bring that in.
 And, you know, different, if you want some different drums from a different place, and
 you can bring in inter-audio apps.
 Well, let me ask you this.
 I feel like I've heard a lot of musicians, they're, you know, almost embarrassed to admit
 that they use GarageBand, or they'll be like, oh, no, no, no, I used to, or like, I tried
 a little bit of that.
 Yeah, that's weird.
 So you think it's just like perfectly, totally legitimate?
 It's totally legitimate.
 It's not, well, to me, it's the carpenter, not the hammer.
 Much of your career has been defined by the technology, which is really wild, right?
 Because you're, you know, an incredible singer by yourself.
 You didn't need to use Auto-Tune, but you decided to bring that in.
 Right.
 You know, is that because you know the technology is going to bring attention?
 Is it to get a certain sound?
 Yeah, no, I was definitely not a technological prophet or anything like that.
 I didn't, I don't want to take that.
 I just, I felt like I would have just been another singer.
 There's so many people that can sing and have wonderful voices and, you know, a lot better
 than mine.
 And I always thought to myself, what's going to make me different?
 And you know, sacrificing people hearing my voice and, you know, being ready for the ridicule
 and stuff like that, I just said, you know what, here's what's going to make me different.
 I'm going to stand out.
 Nobody's going to be able to copy this.
 Boy, was I wrong.
 Super wrong.
 But you know, it was, it was a thought process of how do I not become just another guy that
 can sing?
 And at the time where I was building computers for people in Tallahassee, yeah, that was
 my business.
 Yeah, I charged them 400 bucks to go get the parts.
 You still build your own computers?
 Oh, absolutely.
 Absolutely.
 Yeah, I can't, I can't have anybody else build my computer.
 So you know, it's always been like that, man.
 And you know, one computer I was building for a guy and he didn't have all the money.
 So he gave me a, he gave me a CD of cracked plugins.
 Wow.
 So I was just going through it and you know, I had one, one region of vocals just had that
 looping and was going through each plugin.
 And once I got to Antares Auto Tune, I stopped and I was like, this is it.
 This is what's going to make me sound different.
 And there it was.
 That's wild.
 And here we are.
 Wait, so hold on, you mentioned it.
 Do you actually use the IMT Pain app for your vocals?
 Oh, absolutely.
 Seriously?
 Yeah, there's nothing better.
 Really?
 Nothing better.
 IMT Pain, take it home with you.
 Yeah, absolutely.
 That's cool.
 So not everybody should be using the IMT Pain app.
 I'm using the IMT Pain app because I am T-Pain.
 So I guess, you know, the big story about having all this stuff on our phones and the
 fact that these are all really easy to use tools is it's opening up music to more amateurs,
 I would imagine.
 Right.
 Is that intimidating that there's that literally anybody can become a huge star?
 I don't think so.
 I mean, it's not intimidating to me because, you know, I was that amateur.
 Do you think it's easier to get out there now or is there too much noise for anybody
 to actually find a place?
 It's easier to get exposure.
 To get the right exposure is harder to get the right exposure.
 But you know, all you got to do at this point is, I know in the urban demographic, you just
 got to diss somebody and it'll be right there.
 So you're using streaming services then?
 Oh, yeah.
 Absolutely.
 I mean, musicians seem to talk about them like they're apocalyptic for actually making
 any money.
 No, no, not at all.
 Because I mean, due to streams, like, I mean, sound like a jerk right now.
 But if you got more streams, maybe your show prices can go up.
 Maybe different things, your revenue will come from different places due to the amount
 of streams you have.
 Let it stream, man.
 We don't get the iTunes money.
 We don't get any of that money.
 Like even if we, even when we sell albums, we're just paying back the money that we borrowed
 from the label to get that album out.
 So you know, it's not a fact of making money off of things and asking Spotify, where's
 my money at?
 It's not all that.
 It's about what you do with that opportunity afterwards.
 Streaming is just giving the customer availability.
 You're selling an idea now.
 Now you're selling to the person, don't you want to see this live?
 Come to the concert.
 And don't you want to come see me in person somewhere that you got to pay for?
 So when you put out the new album, you want people to listen to it and then get excited
 and come see you.
 Right.
 So you know what I'm saying?
 New tour for the album, new tour for the single, new tour for something, you know, and a new,
 a new way to make money.
 The surprise album drop is like this unique digital thing, which seems to be like, can
 we, can we get as much attention in one moment?
 I'll tell you what that is.
 That's a contest.
 That's a contest between artists to see who's more famous than the other one.
 That's all that is.
 I'm not risking it.
 I need to take my show prices up.
 I need everybody to know about my album.
 Actually leaks and mixtapes are two other maybe interesting things to touch on before
 we why do a mixtape versus a CD?
 Why do people just to basically to hold it down, you know what I'm saying?
 To keep your attention, keep the attention mindset, keep the attention going, keep letting
 people know that you are still making music and you know, just you're in between album
 cycles.
 Mixtapes nowadays are purely digital because if you're not, if you're not planning on making
 money, you try not to spend any on printing up CDs and now you got to get a cover made
 and you got to print those and now you got to get cases and it's too much and you got
 to actually hand them to people.
 Who does that anymore?
 Skin to skin contact?
 Nobody's doing that.
 Have you had experience with leaked albums at all?
 Many many times.
 Is that frustrating or is it positive?
 It's very frustrating because you know, like I said, we had the whole we have rollouts
 to where we have plans on when things are going to happen and when would be the optimal
 time to drop certain things as a collective.
 We found out what studios not to use because some of the employees may leak it and something
 like that or what email.
 Like we've all as a collective just found out you know, the most common ways that we've
 been leaked.
 So musicians are sharing in all the wow.
 Yeah, absolutely.
 Yeah, we have to.
 So what do you do once something leaks?
 Is it just, do you just throw your arms up or do you kind of throw your arms?
 With me, I reformulate and I make newer music.
 You know, I kind of give it to them like, haha, you thought you had it.
 They did have it, but my quick plan is like, yeah, I'm just going to make new music and
 I'm going to make you think you got the wrong stuff.
 Well thank you.
 I appreciate you having us.
 It's been great talking about music.
 Thank you guys.
 T-Pain is awesome.