T-Pain

The chief purveyor of "hard & B," Tallahassee native T-Pain embarked on a solo career in the mid 2000s after leaving local rap group Nappy Headz. The multi-talented songwriter/rapper/singer signed to Akon's Konvict label, and released a string of hit singles that offered a hard-edged, synth-driven update on New Jack Swing's mix of hip-hop and R&B. T-Pain has collaborated with a slew of the biggest names in rap and R&B including Chris Brown, E-40, R. Kelly, Paul Wall, Trick Daddy, TI, and Kanye West. He released his second full-length, EPIPHANY, on Konvict during the summer of 2007.

• pop
• r&b/soul