"Damn these records companies are nasty"— Fans react as T-Pain reveals that a label took 85% of his first-ever record deal

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T-Pain disclosed details of his first record deal where the label took 85% of his earnings (Image via Bennett Raglin/Getty Images for ESSENCE)

T-Pain, also known as Faheem Rashad Najm, has been trending on social media for some time after a clip of his interview went viral. The conversation featured him speaking about a record deal where a majority of the profits were taken by the record label, leaving only 15% for him. He started by saying:

"My first deal that hold first joy was 18, oh no, it was 15-85."

The rapper also added that the company paid him more than he was expecting and so he decided not to speak against the same. When T-Pain was questioned about the royalties, he replied:

"Oh yeah, a lot. I still get a lot of royalty."

While the clip was shared on different platforms, it led to a lot of criticism from the public, where they spoke against everything that happened with T-Pain when he signed his first record deal. Netizens specifically took to the comments section of a post by My Mixtapez, where they shared a video, to react. A user expressed his frustration by writing:

"Damn these record companies are nasty when it comes to splits."

Users addressed their shock at the fact that was revealed by T-Pain in the interview.

"This why it should absolutely be no reason why today's artists are not looking over contracts," a user wrote.
"85% is crazy. I wonder how much they've made him off in total," another user wrote.
"Record companies taking advantage of young black men who is looking for a way out and need the money," a third user wrote.

Others were spotted expressing their satisfaction with the money the artist received for the record deal.

"A lot of artists gone cap about how they wouldn't have taken this but 40 million up front is nutssss," a user stated.
"But if he got a 40 million advance (which is crazy) that's more than enough to invest and make passive income the label has to recuperate somehow," another user stated.
"That kind of money is not given in the music industry no more!," a third user stated.

Users were even surprised with the amount Faheem received, considering that he was 18 years old at the time.

"He was the youngest artist to ever achieve this wow," a reaction reads.
"Yeah… but would you get anything on your own? Or even close to 40? It's a serious question," another reaction reads.

T-Pain had previously addressed about the offers he received in the early stages of his career

The Tallahassee, Florida native's debut album Rappa Ternt Sanga came out on December 6, 2005. However, his first single I'm Sprung was the project that grabbed a lot of attention from the public, including record labels such as Interscope Records.

T-Pain appeared for an interview with Real 92.3 in December last year, saying that he was offered $900,000 to join Interscope. He said that he was shocked when he received the offer and said:

"At this very moment, my studio's been run off a generator outside and we can't run it past 11 o'clock… I have no power in my house. We can't pay for gas to get to the airport, to fly to Interscope Records. They're offering us these things."
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The 39-year-old revealed that he ended up joining Atlantic Records. He also recalled that although record labels offered him a lot of money, they were even demanding he bring more singles.

Rashad Najm said that Akon was the only person who gave a different reaction after listening to the single Locked Up. T-Pain addressed Akon by saying:

"He was the only person talking like that. And I wasn't in it for short money. I was in there trying to get the long play going. He was the only one talking about it, so I went with him… and I literally ran away from home in order to sign with Akon."

Faheem's last album was On Top of the Covers, which was released in March last year. The album had eight songs in the soundtrack and was praised by critics and audiences.

Edited by Tiasha
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