T-Pain Made “I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper)” In GarageBand During a Power Outage
GarageBand has played an important role in T-Pain’s creative process from the very beginning of his career. When he needs a simple foundation of a song to build off of, he often uses the software to construct a catchy, simple backing track to inspire some lyrics. “Usually when I open up GarageBand, I’m not in a place where I can start belting out lyrics and recording,” he told The Verge in a 2016 interview. “I’m trying to get a solid production piece out of it. And that usually happens.”
In fact, T-Pain put together an entire breakthrough record by using the software for every phase of the recording process. “I did my whole first album in GarageBand,” T-Pain told The Verge.
Since the release of his Rappa Ternt Sanga debut in 2005, Pain has upgraded to Logic Pro X for much of his work, but he continues making music on Apple’s free desktop software and iOS app today. “If I tell you that the last song I released was completely done GarageBand, you either wouldn’t believe it or you’d go, ‘I need to check out GarageBand,’” he told The Verge.
“They heard the ‘joke’ and were like, ‘This is the furthest thing from a joke. We’re putting this out next week.’”
Pain’s working relationship with GarageBand first started when a power outage struck during a Rappa Ternt Sanga studio session. “I was in the studio and I had…MPCs and all kinds of outboard sound modules — I was getting ready to make a song and the power went out,” T-Pain told Apple in an interview for their website. “They wouldn’t let me turn anything back on in the studio because they were afraid that everything could get fried.”
With no other options left to make music, Pain decided to work with what he had and turned to his computer. “My laptop was the only thing still on,” he told Apple. “I had never tried GarageBand before and I wanted to see what it could do. I started messing with it and in 40 minutes I had a good beat. 40 minutes from that I had a whole song.”
That song ended up becoming “I’m N Luv (Wit A Stripper)”, one of the biggest hits off of his debut. According to Pain, the song was made as a joke that he never planned on releasing. That all changed when some folks from his label came by during a studio session. “The label came in and we were going through some songs I had recorded,” he told USA Today in a 2015 interview. “They heard the ‘joke’ and were like, ‘This is the furthest thing from a joke. We’re putting this out next week.’”
“I started messing with it and in 40 minutes I had a good beat. 40 minutes from that I had a whole song.”
After Mother Nature forced his hand with GarageBand he was hooked. The software became his sole mode of production for the rest of Rappa Ternt Sanga, which ended up going gold and led to future collaborations with Jamie Foxx, Kanye West, and Lil’ Wayne.
T-Pain’s affinity for lean, mobile, computer-based recording continues today, as he uses a small setup no bigger than a briefcase so he can make music while traveling. When asked how he learned to make his own mobile studio in a 2016 SXSW interview with Sway, T-Pain replied, “Necessity…I had to create something that allowed me to keep my craft going and keep my family fed while I was at the same time doing shows.”
T-Pain’s recording setup may have evolved a bit since that fateful power outage, but the expanded iOS version of GarageBand on the iPad seems to have rekindled his love for the program. Now that T-Pain has traded auto-tune for his natural voice, turned heads with his NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and shared some emotional and vulnerable songs, it should be interesting to see what he cooks up next with GarageBand.
You can connect with T-Pain on Facebook, Instagram, his website, and on Twitter @TPAIN.
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