Review Summary: T-Pain is starting to establish himself as a lasting source of entertainment in the vein of R. Kelly...
I’m hesitant to discuss
Epiphany on a site like Sputnikmusic. Predominately made up of underground metal, punk and indie, is there room for a positive review for an artist many would assume to be the downfall of modern hip hop? T-Pain elicits strong reactions from music lovers, most finding his extreme use of vocal effects heresy to all that is good and holy, and his songs utter pop/hip hop trash.
Those people, of course, are the same people who heard 10 seconds of “Bartender” to come to that conclusion.
On
Epiphany, T-Pain showcases his many personalities, his top notch production aesthetics, and unapologetically sexual lyrical topics. The album is prototypical on the outset, featuring one or two skits, a good chunk of guest artists (most of which are actually just “alter egos” for T-Pain), and booming bass. Its womanizing as hell, narrow minded and completely dependent on hooks. It’s so ***ing good, yo.
As soon as the albums real opener comes in with “Church” you can tell that T-Pain isn’t some half-baked producer making a bad mix tape. Driven by tinny drum samples and a guitar riff, it’s the most upbeat song on the album and the definition of a “club banger” that doesn’t suck. T-Pain’s flow here is actually pretty sick, and he sounds perfectly fine without the aid of his so called crutch vocal effects.
The singles certainly show that T-Pain enjoys his mellow, R&B tunes more than anything else, and the album is full of excellent slow burners. The two ‘massive’ singles from
Epiphany, “Bartender” and “Buy U a Drank” are two of the best singles of the year; “Bartender” a more traditional R&B song relying on a single beat throughout, but with smooth vocal performances from Pain and Akon. “Buy U A Drank” was arguably the jam of summer ‘07, with the line “We in the bed like oh whoah oh” incredibly simple and silly, but intangibly infectious, and its numerous references to other popular radio hits only add a nice sense of tongue-in-cheek to an album that isn’t even trying to take itself seriously.
The album besides that pretty much totally focuses on sex in some form or another. Future single “Backseat Action” is going to be the next big cruising song, if your system can handle the insane bass Pain employs on the song. His declaration of “And pulling your hair/wont even compare/to what I’m about to do you on this highway” will bring a smile to the hardest of metalheads, and the beat will “keep it real” for the kids actually into Pain. “Yo Stomach” (yes, it’s a tribute song to love for a woman’s toned stomach) is the most unashamedly outlandish track here, with lines like “it’s the reason I’m singing this song/cause I ain’t got nothing else to bust a nut on” showing how…well, weird T-Pain can be.
“Suicide”, the infamous song about having contracted HIV, is surprisingly solid for being one of the few semi-serious songs n the album. Hard to take serious, yes, but its still a solid song with a good vocal performance from Pain. Most of the other songs generally follow similar qualities, mixing all the previously mentioned. There isn’t a weak song if you are into mainstream hip hop really; T-Pain is an interesting enough producer to keep things interesting even when the lyrical content gets redundant and you start to get sick of his voice.
All in all,
Epiphany is a very, very good release in the midst of flash-in-the-pan R. Kelly influenced artists popping up. With his second solid effort (and excellent singles to boot), T-Pain is starting to establish himself as a lasting source of entertainment in the vein of said R. Kelly, albeit Pain will probably opt to pee on someone of age.
Epiphany is full of hits, good songs, ridiculous lyrics, and plenty of music that can possibly help you get laid, something that you can’t say of
Blackwater Park or
As the Roots Undo.
