Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg
Audio By Carbonatix
“If you’ve been doing something for 20 years, you must’ve been doing it right,” an Attenborough-esque voiceover declared as T-Pain walked onstage Wednesday night for the South Florida stop on his TP20 Tour.
The bombastic 90-minute set celebrated the mind-boggling number of hits, indelible hooks, and often-replicated stylistic musical innovations T-Pain has given the world over the past two decades. But it also delved into the many struggles — substance abuse, cultural backlash, music business fuckery — that the singer faced during that same time span.
“I don’t know if y’all know, but I’ve been fully independent since 2018,” T-Pain told the sold-out Hard Rock Live crowd about midway through his set, which opened with “I’m Sprung” and sprinted through hits including “Bartender,” “Buy U a Drank,” “In Love With a Stripper,” and collabs like “All I Do Is Win,” and “Good Life,” among many, many others.
For those who weren’t aware, the revelation made the show’s sellout status and the crowd’s furor all the more impressive. It also explained why T-Pain spent a not-insignificant amount of time riffing on the cost of hot dogs and other venue concessions. When you’re independent, he explained, you pay for all of it yourself.
Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg
That also explained the sparse set design — two neon Roman numerals X, a few backup dancers, and a DJ. Oh, and a rhinestoned, pinstriped suit to make his grand entrance, which he quickly stripped down to some shorts and a tour T-shirt.
Much like the Auto-Tuned vocals that made him famous in the mid-aughts, the flourishes are just creative choices for T-Pain. When you strip him of the glittering suits or vocal effects, what remains is an artist who can write a hell of a catchy hook, and whose quirks (his walk-on song was the DuckTales theme) have earned him an irrevocable accolade few musicians see these days — longevity.
Photo by Michele Eve Sandberg
That’s also given him space to play. In between the awe-inspiring rash of hits, he also played a cover set including Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” (which he sang on his 2023 covers album), Lenny Kravitz’s “American Woman,” and Joan Jett & the Blackhearts’ “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” (sorry, T-Pain — no one’s touching Britney Spears’ cover of that one).
The cover set left something to be desired — I would’ve loved to see him sing these songs with a live band — but as he reminded us earlier, an independent artist’s budget is limited. And hey, after surviving two decades in this volatile industry, it’s fun enough to see T-Pain do whatever the hell he wants.
