T-Pain has revealed a past comment from Usher influenced his bout with depression. In a clip from the upcoming Netflix series This Is Pop, the 35-year-old opened up about an unfavorable conversation between the two artists. T-Pain expressed how a harsh critique from Usher on his musical style caused him to be depressed for years.
The 2013 conversation happened on an airplane after the “Bartender” singer was woken up by a flight attendant. In the clip, T-Pain lets out a loud, audible sigh, before describing the incident to the This Is Pop producers. After quick small-talk between the two singers, Usher added his heavy judgment.
“Usher was my friend,” T-Pain said. “I really respect Usher. And he said, ‘I’m gonna tell you something, man. You kinda fu**ed up music.’”
He initially thought the “Confessions” singer was joking until his peer allegedly doubled down on his opinion. Usher’s comments referred to T-Pain’s use of an autotune enhancement on most of his chart-topping songs. T-Pain continued to detail how after processing the comment over time, he realized that is where his depression began.
“He was like, ‘Yeah man you really f**ked up music for real singers.’ I was like, ‘What did I do? I came out and I used Auto-Tune,'” T-Pain said. “He was like, ‘Yeah, you fu**ed it up.’ I’m like, ‘But I used it, I didn’t tell everybody else to start using it.'”
He continued, “That is the very moment, and I don’t even think I realized this for a long time, but that’s the very moment that started a four-year depression for me.”
Usher has yet to respond publicly about the allegations.
This Is Pop debuts on Netflix on June 22. According to the series’ synopsis, it will share “the real stories behind your favorite pop songs as this docuseries charts the impact of the festival scene, Auto-Tune, boy bands and more.” Artists featured in the first season include Boyz II Men, Chuck D, Brandi Carlile, Neko Case, Shania Twain, and more.