No T-Pain, No Gain

By Broadside Correspondent Evan Benton

Grammy award-winning hip-hop rapper and producer T-Pain worked his magic at the Patriot Center last Thursday night for Mason Day. Tickets to the concert were sold out to the general public as T-Pain put on arguably one of the most entertaining shows ever to be performed at Mason Day. Rapping, singing, dancing, even playing electric guitar, piano and drums, T-Pain performed an impressive set for the crowd.

Equally entertaining were his guests, the Nappy Boys, rapper Tay Dizm, and the Sophia Fresh trio.

Mason students only had to pay $5 general admission, an incredibly affordable sum considering the event’s size and spectacle.

Past Mason Day attractions included last year’s Gym Class Heroes’ performance in Lot L and Naughty by Nature the year before.

But this year, Mason outdid itself.

The night’s performances were interspersed with T-Pain’s Deejay’s music, with enough booming bass and perfectly mixed tracks to keep the momentum and the excitement going every minute of the night.

T-Pain took to the stage on a souped-up green and gold golf cart. Stepping out onto the stage in his familiar over-the-top garb, T-Pain greeted the enthusiastic crowd, which screamed for joy from his first spoken word as he stood in front of them like a long-haired, neon-green sunglasses-wearing messiah.

T-Pain kept the performance reasonably clean, despite an earlier promise that there would be “some explicitness up in here.” This explicitness never seemed to get out of hand, reaching its apex when T-Pain commented on all the “fine lookin’ Caucasian females” in the audience. He deftly segued this point into another—“no matter what race you are, you’ll love this next song”—he subsequently blasted “Low,” prompting most “apple bottom jeans” to start shaking and most “boots with the fur” to start stomping.

As the multi-platinum artist made clear, he either recorded or contributed to 47 hits last year alone—so the set list for the evening would have to be a bit limited.
Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the Mason crowd heard practically every song they wanted to hear. Ranging from the 30-second “Good Life” intro that sparked his performance off, to a longer, almost-touching rendition of “Bartender,” never once did the audience reaction and participation let up.

Many elements of the night stood out more than others. This included a remarkable series of songs showcasing T-Pain’s understated musical talents: a lullaby to his children on guitar, an unorthodox piano solo and a booming and rapid drum tirade.
Leaving the stage unprompted for a moment, T-Pain and his crew returned in swim trunks and goggles to sing The Lonely Island’s “I’m On A Boat,” proving to be his final song before the lights went on and he bid farewell, promising to return for the fourth time to Mason, but perhaps this time with Lil Wayne as the rap super group T-Wayne.

It is definitely an eagerly anticipated return, judging from the audience’s reaction to the performance.