POPSCREEN: T-Pain ft. DJ Khaled

In his new video “Karaoke,” T-Pain shows us his true colors. And no, they don’t involve the swirling, digitized effects from his previous videos with Lil’ Wayne and Ludacris, or even the trademark carnivalesque top hat and Oakley shades he sports. Here, T-Pain is a pissed off hip-hop (ahem) star who is sick and tired of getting shit for using Auto-Tune.

The insults in “Karaoke” just add up. First, Kanye West makes an appearance in the bathroom stall, and surprised, says, “T-Pain! I did not even recognize you without the Auto-Tune!” T-Pain, clearly offended by the remark, sarcastically replies with exactly the same comment. Not the most creative comeback, T-Pain.

From there the action cuts to a borderline offensive and stereotypical white trash karaoke bar. And who should be called up to sing T-Pain’s hit “I Can’t Believe It” but a middle-aged Asian business man in a suit? Unbeknownst to poor Franklin, however, T-Pain looks on from a grainy TV in the VIP room. Franklin’s barely coherent performance is the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and T-Pain rushes out from the VIP to take over the mic and spit invective about other artists swagger-jacking. Turns out, true to his roots, T-Pain can actually rap.

Throughout the video, DJ Khaled seems to be T-Pain’s hype man/muscle, pushing the patrons of the bar around, calling them “bitch-ass niggas,” and pouring or throwing their drinks in their face. After enough of this, the patrons rally together to evict the duo, but they don’t manage to get rid of all the kind-of, almost-rappers in the audience. The video concludes with Akon, making a guest appearance playing a little bongo drum solo. Maybe this is a sign that Akon will give us a new side to his talents, just as T-Pain has.

—Marissa A. Glynias