T-Pain
caught
Akon
's attention when he released a version of
"Locked Up"
titled
"I'm F***ed Up."
When
heard
's voice and realized there was more depth to the version than the title implied, he got in contact with the Florida-based "rappa ternt sanga" (who also produces and writes) and signed him to his
Jive
-distributed
Konvict Muzik
label.
Rappa Ternt Sanga
, beyond containing a few strong tracks with plenty of range between them, shows promise.
has a seductive vocal style (he does sound somewhat similar to his mentor), plenty of effective hooks, and strong productions, but he presses too much when he tries to stick out lyrically. The craziest offense is
"Studio Luv,"
in which he comes out sounding more than a little silly: "you remind me of a brand new saxophone," "your body's like a flute," "do you mind if I pluck up on your strings," "I would stroke your body like I do my keyboard." Another hindrance is the digital vocal processing that pops up as often as water droplets in
R. Kelly
tracks. Though this factor has brought about plenty of comparisons to
Zapp
's
Roger Troutman
(as in the
electro
-
funk
classic
"More Bounce to the Ounce"
and late-'80s slow jam favorite
"I Want to Be Your Man"
),
Troutman
used an actual vocoder (which produced a different-sounding effect), and
winds up sounding more like the
Cher
of
"Believe."
Had there been limited use of studio tricks and more guidance (as a new signee to a label with major distribution,
handles an inordinate amount of the writing and production duties),
would've been a more-than-respectable debut. ~ Andy Kellman