T-Pain Without Auto-Tune Is Surprisingly Good

When you think of T-Pain and his music, there's one word that comes to mind: auto-tune. The singer helped popularize the funky warped sound that spawned its own app and has sparked controversy for other artists including Britney Spears and Kanye West. But while he may be known for the funky style, T-Pain's recent NPR Tiny Desk Concert proves that he's actually pretty darn good without it.

Sure, auto-tune-filled songs like his 2007 hit "Buy U a Drank" helped define him as an artist, but T-Pain admitted to NPR that his intentions with the sound were misinterpreted. "People felt like I was using it to sound good," he told All Things Considered. "But I was just using it to sound different." So though we've always thought T-Pain's songs were great for busting a move, we're now convinced that he's also worthy of a close listen.