Next week, Grammy Award-winning artist and Tallahassee native T-Pain will kick off his first-ever Las Vegas residency. He announced the residency on Dec. 19 on Instagram.
T-Pain, born Faheem Rasheed Najm, rose to fame in 2005 following the release of his album “Rappa Ternt Sanga,” which features hit songs “I’m Sprung” and “I’m N Luv.” Since then, he has had over 10 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, created his own record label, won Grammys, and more.
His stage name, T-Pain, stands for Tallahassee Pain. He was born and raised in Tallahassee.
T-Pain and Tallahassee have been a trending topic in the media recently due to T-Pain not showing up to the 50 Years of Hip Hop Celebration that the city held on Nov. 10. The City of Tallahassee and Leon County collaborated for a 50 Years of Hip Hop celebration that featured artists Doug E. Fresh, MC Lyte and local Tallahassee artists. T-Pain did not show up to the celebration and that confused some locals because T-Pain was widely promoted for the event, and it was announced he was going to be honored at the event.
The flyer for the event showcased a large image of T-Pain taking up half of the flyer and his name in large letters. However, T-Pain did not show. The following day, Nov. 11, T-Pain took to social media to explain exactly why he did not show up in a five-part series he titled “Tallahassee Love.”
In the five-part series T-Pain went into detail about numerous situations that have happened to him regarding Tallahassee and Tallahassee officials that made him feel “sh*tted on” (in his exact words).
In the series, T-Pain explained that he did not attend the celebration because he felt he was lied to. He made plans to come to Tallahassee but the plans were because he was told he was going to get the street he grew up on renamed after him.
Days after he found out about the renaming of the street, they asked him if he would stay after his ceremony to watch local kids perform at the celebration, and he agreed. A week before the event, after asking more questions, he discovered there was nothing properly done to get the street renamed after him on the date (Nov. 11) that they told him so he told them he would not be coming. That is when he found out that he was being promoted at the event and they were trying to find ways for him to come. But after running through the numerous events that have happened in the past while in Tallahassee, T-Pain decided against coming.
Just a week after the incident, T-pain took the stage at the 2023 BET Soul Train Awards and gained a lot of attention for his outstanding performance where he performed his top songs. The performance was shared and re-shared by many of his fans across all platforms. The full performance posted by BET on its YouTube channel has gathered 1 million views.
A month after the incident, T-Pain posted on YouTube a concert he did live from the Sun Rose where he sang songs from his album “On Top Of The Covers” that he released earlier in the year where he covered popular songs from different artists such as “Don’t Stop Believin’” by
Journey, “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton and “This Is How We Do It” by Montell Jordan. The video quickly gained attraction and has more than 2.5 million views.
Just three days ago, T-Pain took the stage at the AFC Championship football game where the Kansas City Chiefs took on the Baltimore Ravens for a spot in Super Bowl LVIII. T-Pain performed during halftime with hits like “Up Down,” “Low,” and ‘Booty Wurk.”
Since the November incident in Tallahassee, T-Pain has performed on large stages gaining a lot of national attention. Tallahassee locals have not seen him in a while, and the question lingers about whether his fans in Tallahassee will travel to Las Vegas to see him perform.
A’Nylah Cobb, a graduating senior at FAMU, is a fan of T-Pain and is trying to make plans to see him. “Since I am in college I have to save my money, especially since I am about to graduate,” Cobb said. “I graduate in May so maybe I will be able to go to the show in July.”
Tallahassee resident Christine Wilkerson is not missing the opportunity to see T-Pain in concert. “I went to the 50 Years of Hip Hop Celebration to see T-Pain and obviously I was disappointed but I won’t miss him this time… I want him to sing ‘Tennessee Whiskey,’” Wilkerson said. Wilkerson and three of her friends planned a girls’ trip around the show set for April and will be attending the concert.
The residency has four dates spread out over four months. The dates are set for Thursday, Feb. 8, Saturday, April 20, Sunday, May 26, and Thursday, July 11. Tickets are available at www.zoukgrouplv.com/tpain/