Usher has reacted to T-Pain calling him out recently for sparking a “four-year depression.”
The R&B star told Billboard: “I’m happy that T-Pain said something.”
In the “Auto-Tune” episode of the Canadian series This Is Pop, which aired in March on CTV, T-Pain recalled being taken aside on an airplane by Usher in 2013.
“He was like, ‘I want to tell you something, man’ … He sounded real concerned. He was like, ‘Man, you kinda f**ked up music.’ I didn’t understand. Usher was my friend,” T-Pain shared. “He was like, ‘Nah, man, you really f**ked up music for real singers.’
“Literally at that point, I couldn’t listen. Is he right? Did I f**k this up? Did I f**k up music? That is the very moment – and I don’t think I realized that for a long time – that’s the very moment that started a four-year depression for me.”
After the episode streamed in the U.S., many fans slammed Usher on social media – but T-Pain was quick to defend the singer. “Telling that story was in no way meant to disrespect that man,” he tweeted. “Ppl talk s**t about me 24/7 but when it comes from someone you truly respect it hits very different.
“I never said f**k Ursh it was a drop in the ocean of s**t I was already goin through.”
In his interview with Billboard, Usher admitted “it was very hurtful to know that he had experienced that kind of hardship in life. I wouldn’t wish that on any person.”
He added: “Private conversations for me have always been intended to uplift. But when or if people get pieces of it, they can always have some other interpretation.
“But we’ve spoken since and we’re good.”
This Is Pop was co-produced by Toronto’s Banger Films and Bell Media (parent company of this website).