T-Pain, ‘rEVOLVEr’ – Album Review

After a taking a brief hiatus, Auto-Tune king T-Pain is back with his fourth album 'rEVOLVEr.' Despite Jay-Z's attempt to put an end to the usage of the popular vocal software, the rapper-turned-singer defiantly uses it on the 17-track collection.

And there lies the sticking point with 'rEVOLVEr.' While T-Pain's Auto-Tune is in full effect on club tracks like 'Bottlez,' 'Look at Her' (featuring Chris Brown), 'Rock Bottom' and 'It's Not You' (featuring Pitbull), his robotic voice can be quite annoying at times. However, on '5 O'Clock,' his robotic vocalizing is effective next to Lily Allen's hush vocals. T-Pizzle is actually at his best when he's not using Auto-Tune. On songs like 'Drowning Again,' the crooner reveals his vulnerable side and it's refreshing to hear.

Although the subject matter of strippers and ballin' gets tiring after repeat listens, his slow ballads like 'Center of the Stage' (Featuring R. Kelly and Bei Major) and 'Sho-Time' saves the album from being completely boring. T-Pain's 'rEVOLVEr' album does show growth and how much of a great songwriter the Grammy-winning hitmaker is, once he deviates from tunes about money and strippers.

1. 'Bang Bang Pow Pow' Feat. Lil Wayne
T-Pain's opening salvo to the album featuring his buddy Lil Wayne. Over a thunderous beat and stirring violins, T-Pizzle and Weezy rap ignorant lyrics about blowing money, bagging strippers and laughing at broke haters. [Listen]

2. 'Bottlez' Feat. Detail
A bouncy club anthem to poppin' bottles and all-night drinking.

3. 'It's Not You (It's Me)' Feat. Pitbull
A formulaic dance-pop song (ala David Guetta) as T-Pain explains to his girlfriend that he's addicted to the strip clubs, and if they break up it's not her fault. Mr. Worldwide provides the lyrical assist on the track.

4. 'Default Picture'
This is a charming tongue-and-cheek ballad for the digital age. On the song, T-Pizzy is cyber-macking to the ladies as he sings of falling in love with someone’s avatar on Twitter and Facebook.

5. '5 O'Clock' feat. Lily Allen & Wiz Khalifa
A standout track on the LP. The chart-topping tune features Lily Allen and Wizzy as T-Pain apologies to his lady for his late-night creep to the strip clubs. (Watch)

6. 'Sho-Time (Pleasure Thang)'
A nice melodic love ballad from Teddy Pain as he gets into loverboy mode and promises his lover pleasures beyond her wildest dreams.

7. 'Rock Bottom'
This song boast some fantastic production with its rollicking beat and melodic piano groove. The downside is the subject matter -- he sings about bagging a stripper. There's no denying it, T-Pain stays in the strip clubs.

8. 'Look at Her Go' Feat. Chris Brown
One out of a few occasions that T-Pain forgoes the Auto-Tune and utilizes his own voice. On the hand-clapping track, him and Breezy yell out commands for the ladies to drop it like it’s hot on the dance floor. [Listen]

9. 'Mix'd Girl'
Another tongue-and-cheek song in which T-Pain is looking for a beautiful woman to "mix" it up with for the night. If she so happens to be racially-mixed than that's a plus, too.

10. 'I Don't Give a F---'
A novelty Auto-Tune-derivative track. Skip it.

11. 'Drowning Again' feat. One Chance
This is a big surprise on the album full of Auto-Tune-assisted songs. T-Pizzle shows his vulnerability on this lovely piano-driven track. We need to hear more of T-Pain behind the ivories instead of behind the Auto-Tune. [Watch]

12. 'When I Come Home'
A yearning ballad where the crooner sings about his loneliness and pining for his girlfriend back home.

13. 'Best Love Song' Feat. Chris Brown
A violin-driven pop anthem that was leaked online back in March. It still sounds fantastic but is now dated by Internet standards.

14. 'Turn All the Lights On' Feat. Ne-Yo
Another club jam featuring the soulful stylings of Ne-Yo. There's nothing particularly outstanding about the song.

15. 'Center of the Stage' Feat. R. Kelly & Bei Major
This has all of the earmarks of being a huge radio hit. T-Pain, R. Kelly and Bei Major sound like an updated version of the '80s R&B group Guy with this laid-back love song dedicated to strippers. If you can ignore the subject matter, this is a big standout on the album.

16. 'Regular Girl'
It's not our favorite song because of T-Pain's trite raps and it sounding similar to his past hits like 'I Can’t Believe It.' By this time, we are pretty much Auto-Tune-d out.

17. 'Nuthin'' feat. E-40 & Detail
T-Pain tries his hand at a hyphy song and grabs Bay Area slanguage rapper E-40. This song does "nothing" for us. Skip.

You can listen to T-Pain's LP 'rEVOLVEr' in its entirety at nappyboyonline.com.