T-Pain says he fell into a four-year-long depression after Usher told him that his use of Auto-Tune wrecked the music industry.
The rapper makes the stunning revelation on the upcoming Netflix series “This Is Pop,” saying the statement from his famous “friend” caused him deep pain.
“Usher was my friend,” the “Buy U a Drank” performer explained, according to Entertainment Weekly. “I really respect Usher. And he said, ‘I’m gonna tell you something, man. You kinda f–ked up music.'”
T-Pain, 35, said he thought the 42-year-old “Confessions” crooner was joking until he doubled down on his comments.
“And then he was like, ‘Yeah, man, you really f–ked up music for real singers,'” T-Pain recalled Usher saying. “I was like, ‘What did I do? I came out and I used Auto-Tune.'”
“He was like, ‘Yeah, you f–ked it up.’ I’m like, ‘But I used it, I didn’t tell everybody else to start using it.'”
T-Pain went on to realize that the “My Way” singer’s comments became the catalyst for his lengthy depression.
“That is the very moment, and I don’t even think I realized this for a long time, but that’s the very moment that started a four-year depression for me,” T-Pain shared.
Netflix’s “This Is Pop” is an eight-part series exploring untold stories from some of the most notable moments in pop music history. The series also features interviews with ABBA’S Benny Andersson, Shania Twain, Brandi Carlile, Chuck D, Babyface, Orville Peck, members of Boys II Men and the Backstreet Boys.
The series will be released in full June 22.
Page Six has reached out to Usher’s rep for comment.