t-pain

Let's give T-Pain some credit-he knows what people want. The man is always on the radio, and his talent is apparent on Thr33 Ringz, his third studio release. Across the album, T-Pain and his trademark Auto-Tune sound create some true gems. "Digital" is a veritable club anthem, and "Change" is a surprisingly good cover of Eric Clapton's "Change the World."

On "Karaoke," T-Pain teams with the perpetually indignant DJ Khaled and actually raps with his own raw voice. Pain lashes out at all those who criticize his style and doubt his staying power, spending four anger-filled minutes putting these "swagger jackers" in line. The track is dually impressive and terrifying.

Yet for all its ingenuity, Thr33 Ringz frequently reveals that T-Pain's sound is best-fitted for collaborations and is not sufficient to carry an entire album. The release is full of hip-hop's brightest stars, but these cameos lack the length to make a real impact. On tracks without them, the sound lags and Pain struggles to hold the listener's interest.

However, when Pain hits, he hits. The bulk of the songs pale in comparison to the hands-down (hands-off?) highlight, "Long Lap Dance." T-Pain describes an all-too-familiar situation: it's been two hours at your favorite strip club, you finally get a lap dance and it ends too quickly. Trying to fix this problem, T-Pain sings, "That's so wrong/So I made a long lap-dance song." The song sounds a bit drawn out; but then again, it should. "Long Lap Dance" is either the most audacious track in years or the end of civilization as we know it. Either way, it's noteworthy.

Songs like this prove T-Pain and his Auto-Tune adept at making the occasional chart-topper, but a consistently engaging album continues to elude the hitmaker in the top-hat.

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